Marco Ottolini’s appointment completes the revolution that has reshaped Juventus over recent months, a process set in motion with the arrival of Damien Comolli.
There comes a point in a club’s life when change stops being cosmetic and becomes structural. Juventus has reached that point. After months of realignment, internal adjustments and handovers, the official naming of Ottolini as sporting director brings to completion a transformation that touches everything — the football department and, more significantly, the club’s very model of governance.
This is not a routine reshuffle. It marks the end of one era — the so-called “technical government” — and the beginning of a more horizontal, more international Juventus, built around clearly defined roles and interconnected responsibilities.
The missing piece
Juventus had been searching for an operational sporting director: not a symbolic figure, but someone embedded in the machinery of the club — overseeing negotiations, managing the transfer market and coordinating scouting, the youth system, Next Gen and the first team. Ottolini fits that brief. His arrival restores a traditional balance after a period in which those responsibilities had been dispersed and, in practice, concentrated in the hands of Comolli, who remains the club’s undisputed apex.
Ottolini’s profile aligns with the direction Juventus has chosen. His work at Genoa was shaped by sustainability, player development and asset creation. At Juventus, the challenge is steeper. Here, doing things well is not enough; only doing them immediately counts. In other words: results.
Comolli’s ascent
The architect of the new course is Damien Comolli. Appointed General Director on 4 June 2025, he was handed an unusually broad mandate, spanning the men’s football department as well as marketing and commercial operations — a scope that already hinted at a club preparing to redefine itself. Five months later, on 11 November, Comolli was named Chief Executive Officer, his previous role dissolved but his authority left intact.
The message was unmistakable. Juventus opted for a single, centralised line of command. Comolli is not merely an executive; he is the club’s guiding vision.
The end of the interim era
Every revolution needs a closing chapter. For Juventus, there are two. Francesco Calvo’s departure to Aston Villa, where he takes on a senior business role from July 2025, represents a personal promotion and the end of his Juventus chapter. More symbolically, Maurizio Scanavino’s exit on 7 November 2025, at the natural end of his mandate, closes the period of interim management. The man charged with stabilising the club steps aside precisely as stability gives way to renewal.
This is where the idea of a “technical government” truly ends. Juventus leaves behind emergency management and returns to a corporate structure once again centred firmly on football.
A new sporting structure
The reshaped Juventus is built around a managerial triangle reminiscent of Europe’s elite clubs. Giorgio Chiellini, Director of Football Strategy, reports directly to the top. His is not a ceremonial role, but a strategic and cultural one, carrying significant weight inside the dressing room and beyond.
François Modesto, as Technical Director reporting to Comolli, provides methodology, support and a constant presence alongside the coach and squad. Ottolini completes the triangle: the operational fulcrum of transfers, scouting and relations with agents and clubs. Without a pure sporting director, decision-making inevitably drifts upward; with Ottolini in place, the system finally feels whole.
Beyond the pitch
The revolution does not stop at football. Juventus is also reshaping its business identity. The appointment of Peter Silverstone as Chief Business Officer reflects that ambition. With an international background and a career rooted in modern football’s commercial development — including senior roles at Arsenal and Newcastle — Silverstone’s mandate is clear: strengthen Juventus’s ability to compete off the pitch. He formally takes up the role on 1 January 2026.
A new voice
There is also a quieter but no less strategic shift in communications. Pier Donato Vercellone becomes the new reference point for the club’s communications strategy after a recent spell as Milan’s Chief Communications Officer. His arrival underscores a more institutional, corporate approach: protecting reputation, ensuring message coherence and reinforcing the centrality of the Juventus brand during this phase of renewal.
In a club redefining its governance, communication is no longer an accessory. It becomes part of the structure — a tool not just to inform, but to tell a continuous, recognisable story about what Juventus is becoming.
