Juventus' 10 biggest sales of all time

James Shearman

• Updated: 20 Sep 2023 09:17 CDT
• 5 min read

Juventus are Italy's most dominant club historically, and part of that success has been built on being shrewd in the transfer market, both with incomings and outgoings.

While the Bianconeri have splashed the cash and broken transfer records on superstars like Roberto Baggio and Cristiano Ronaldo, they have also made some of the most expensive sales ever.

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Here are the 10 biggest sales in the club's history.

=9. Filippo Inzaghi - £31m (AC Milan, 2001)

A resounding success at Juventus, with 57 goals in 120 Serie A appearances, Inzaghi's departure to a domestic rival perhaps wasn't a smart decision.

Even though his replacement, David Trezeguet, was a superb player himself, the Bianconeri surely would have been better served keeping Inzaghi at the club.

He went on to lift the Champions League trophy for Milan in 2007, scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over Liverpool.

=9. Mattia Caldara - £31m (AC Milan, 2018)

Receiving £31m for a player that never made an appearance for your club is excellent business by anyone's standards.

Add to that, Caldara struggled badly with form and fitness in the years after his exit from Juventus.

8. Arturo Vidal - £34m (Bayern Munich, 2015)

A clever financial decision, Vidal was offloaded to Bayern Munich while still at his peak, but only just before his inevitable decline.

This maximised the fee the club could receive, something that has been replicated many times over the years.

7. Leonardo Bonucci - £36m (AC Milan, 2017)

A club legend, Bonucci was sold to rivals Milan in 2017 for a handsome fee, with the defender said to be wanting a new challenge.

However, just 12 months after his arrival, all parties involved came to an agreement for the reversal of this transfer, with the Old Lady making a minimal profit.

Bonucci was not as good at Juventus in his second spell, but he did play a crucial role as Italy won Euro 2020. He left Juve in 2023 in acrimonious circumstances to join Union Berlin.

6. Dejan Kulusevski - £38m (Tottenham, 2022)

Dejan Kulusevski was a huge disappointment during his 18 months at Juventus, having arrived at the club as the most exciting youngster in Serie A for €35m from Atalanta.

Juventus were expected to make a loss, so lacklustre was the Swedish winger in Turin , when they decided to sell him on in January 2022.

But, incredibly, they agreed on a deal with Tottenham that saw them make a profit.

Tottenham agreed to pay €10m for an 18-month loan, with the transfer becoming official for €35m in the summer of 2023.

5. Miralem Pjanic - £51m (Barcelona, 2020)

Receiving this sum of money for a 30-year-old who was on the way down was a superb piece of business by Juventus.

He proved to be one of Barcelona's worst-ever signings as he barely played in his first year at the club before being loaned out to Besiktas and then sent to Sharjah for free in 2022.

It should be noted, though, that Juventus also signed Arthur Melo at an inflated price the same summer as Pjanic moved to Barca. So this was, in reality, a swap deal made for financial reasons.

4. Joao Cancelo - £56m (Man City, 2019)

The perfect modern full-back, Cancelo became a superstar at Manchester City, on the left and right side of the defence.

And unlike Pjanic or Bonucci, the Portuguese player was of an age where the fee that Juve could command would only rise each year.

So it's not often that you can call a £56m sale a mistake, but this certainly was by Juventus.

3. Zinedine Zidane - £66m (Real Madrid, 2001)

Despite being one of the greatest players of all time, selling Zidane for a then-world record fee proved to be a masterstroke by Juventus.

With the Zidane money, Juve signed three world-class players in order to build a new, dominant team.

Those three players were Gigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram and Pavel Nedved. Three world-class players for one.

2. Matthijs de Ligt - £68m (Bayern Munich, 2022)

Matthijs de Ligt became Bayern's second most expensive signings of all time following his mega move from Juventus and he is also Juve's second biggest sale of all time as well.

The Dutch international spent three years in Turin before seeking a transfer away this summer, with Bayern his preference.

After weeks of negotiations, Bayern landed De Ligt for a fee of £68m (€80m) and he joined the impressive group of defenders in Bavaria.

1. Paul Pogba - £90m (Manchester United, 2016)

In arguably the deal of the century in 2012, the Bianconeri, with the help of Mino Raiola, were able to poach a young midfielder by the name of Pogba from Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United on a free transfer.

Pogba went on to become one of the elite players and most marketable stars in world football, before rejoining United for a then-world record fee. A £90m profit is a quite remarkable piece of business.

Juventus re-signed Pogba on another free transfer from Man Utd in 2022 but that proved to be a disaster.