Juventus CEO Giovanni Carnevali has shared his thoughts ahead of kick-off against Celta Vigo in the Europa League on Thursday evening, admitting that the club required a capital injection from its owners due to ‘mistakes’ that were made in the past and insisting that the players will have to ‘earn’ any competition bonuses this season.
Juventus are taking on Celta Vigo at 20.00 BST (21.00 CET) in Galicia on Thursday night, their second match in the Europa League this season following a 5-0 victory over NEC before the international break.
Carnevali speaks ahead of Celta Vigo vs. Juventus
Carnevali spoke briefly to Sky Sport Italia ahead of kick-off in the Europa League on Thursday evening. To little surprise, he hopes Juventus go as far as possible in the competition this term.
“It’s an international competition, so a club like Juventus should aim to progress as far forwards as possible. It will be a difficult game, but a team like ours must give its best,” Carnevali said.
The Bianconeri chief was asked about the recent contract extension handed to Nico Gonzalez, who had spent the 2025-26 season out on loan with Atletico Madrid.
“As far as we’re concerned, Nico was nailed down here, we didn’t want to get rid of him. We’ve kept our word and I think he wants to be here too.”
Carnevali is only a few months into his tenure as Juventus CEO, having joined from Sassuolo at the start of the summer. So, how does he feel it is all going?
“It’s a big challenge, but there’s a lot of passion and desire. We’re a big club with big ambitions and big pressure, and a lot of the time, that involves me and the whole team. It’s a good thing. I’m convinced we’ll do well. It takes time to build things, but we’re working on it.”
Carnevali was also asked whether he intends to put the recent €250m capital increase from the club’s owners towards new players in the January transfer window.
He replied: “We have to say thank you to our owners, who have made some big investments. I’m passionate about working here and some mistakes have been made in the past, because if we need capital injections, it means some mistakes must have been made. We have to try and improve ourselves and bring success to the fans.”
And lastly, when asked about the topic of competition bonuses for his players, Carnevali said: “We have to think about tonight’s game before anything else. We have to try and get off on the right foot given the difficulties we will face tonight and in our next few games. We will need to earn a bonus.”