Marotta: 'Gap is economic'

Juventus director general Beppe Marotta tipped his hat to Bayern Munich, but warned the real gap between Serie A and Bundesliga “is economic.”

The German side won 2-0 in both legs to reach the Champions League semi-final.

“Over the 180 minutes they were superior, but it was not just because of this season,” Marotta told Mediaset.

“Bayern have reached the Champions League Final three times recently and won the German League with six rounds to spare.

“There was definitely a gap, that was clear, but the German clubs are at a more advanced stage in the rebuilding process. We are following their example.

“The economic factor also decides the transfer strategy. Today we have clubs like Bayern who double the revenue of Italian sides like Milan, Inter or Juventus. Of course they can buy just one player for €40m, whereas Italian clubs have to band together with three or four to raise that sum.

“Juventus are starting on that road with a new stadium, but the other Serie A clubs still have that handicap.”

Juventus are the only Serie A side to own their stadium, as red tape continues to make it impossible for other teams.

“It is very simple, as Italian sides have almost 70% of their revenue from TV rights, whereas the German clubs split between TV rights, commercial rights and the stadiums. It’s clear in Italy that there is a lack of stadiums that can be owned by the clubs to boost income.

“I thank our squad, as we started this new era two and a half years ago, when we never imagined we’d be in the Champions League quarter-finals against a huge superpower like Bayern.

“We are still working and do not have the quality needed as yet to be in that group of superpowers. Unfortunately, right now the Italian clubs are far behind in purely economic terms, which therefore affects the transfer potential.”

Marotta was asked whether Juventus will finally invest in the so-called ‘top player’ over the summer?

“This is not the right time to make promises. Further on, when we know the Scudetto result, then we can evaluate what needs to be done.”

Well, Juve can always try to go Dortmund's way with top scouting and nurturing young players to the top. I mean, Dortmund got players like Shinji Kagawa for 350 000 Euro, Mats Hummels for 4 Mio Euros, Lucas Barrios for 4.2 Mio Euros, Łukasz Piszczek for free, Sven Bender for free, Neven Subotic for 4.5 Mio Euros or Robert Lewandowski for 4.75 mio Euros. As a matter of fact, before last season, they spent no more than 5 mio per one player for about 6 years as they were virtually bankrupt in 2005.