Who is the best Juventus player ever?
Juventus is one of the strongest clubs in the history of Italian football. They have won numerous prestigious national as well as international titles. The club is also known as the place where dozens, even hundreds of great footballers were born. Among all the players of Juventus, who should be given the title as the best of all time?
In this article, I'd like to present 15 names, ranging from goalkeepers to strikers who established reputations as Juventus' legend. All of them contributed important roles in the past victory of Juventus and have achieved impressive individual records as football players.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Source: Wikimedia Commons
15. David Trezeguet
David Trezeguet is a deadly target-man from France who became the main source of goal for this club for ten years, from 2000 to 2010. From 300 appearances, Trezeguet scored 171 goals in total. This record makes Trezegol holds the record as the most scoring foreign players in Juventus. His greatest achievement was in the 2000-2001 season where Trezeguet helped his team win the Italian league as well as winning individual awards as the top scorer and best player of Serie A.
Source: Wikimedia Commons: http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianluigi_Buffon
14. Gianluigi Buffon
Until now, Buffon is a Juventus player who has the sixth most appearances for the club of all time. The rankings are still very likely continue to rise because Buffon is still actively playing as a goalkeeper of La Vecchia Signora. Since joining Juventus in 2001, Gigi has presented four Serie A titles for his club. Throughout his career, he also eight times won the titles as the Best Goalkeeper in Serie A.
Source: Flickr.com via CC
13. Antonio Conte
Antonio Conte is a player who was very loyal to Juventus. After 13 years of playing for Juventus, he was appointed as the club's coach. Conte's style of play is very different from most of the Juventus players in this list. He is an example of hardworking midfielder who did not mind playing harsh to secure his team's defense. His charismatic figure also made Conte was appointed as a captain of the team when Alessandro Del Piero was absent because of injury.
Source: Wikimedia Commons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Nedv%C4%9Bd
12. Pavel Nedved
Juventus was lucky to have players like Nedved. The Czech Republic player was transferred from Lazio in 2001, and he had a vital role in helping the Old Lady dominated Italian football during that period of time. Nedved is a versatile midfielder. He can be played as a winger, placed behind the striker, or positioned as a defensive midfielder. He also quite often scored with his trademark cannonball from outside of penalty box.
11. John Charles
There are not many players from the United Kingdom who can achieve great success in the Italian Football League. John Charles is one of the few examples of such players. Although only played five seasons for Juventus, the striker who can also play as a winger has a very important role. He was very fast, powerful, and productive in scoring goals. Throughout his career, John Charles scored 109 goals from 186 appearances and he helped his team win three Serie A titles.
10. Antonio Cabrini
Played for 13 seasons for Juventus, Scirea is often referred as the best Italian defenders of all time. This wingback is not only strong in defense, but also often helped the offense by creating deadly cross passes from the left side of the pitch. Not only in Juventus, Cabrini was also an important figure for the Italian national team. After his retirement, Cabrini coached many teams, and this time he is the architect of the Italian women's football team.
Source: Wikimedia Commons: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giampiero_Boniperti
9. Giampiero Boniperti
Currently, Boniperti holds the record as the third highest scorer of all time for Juventus. The ex-Italian striker who plays for La Vecchia Signora in the period of 1946 to 1961 is also listed as 11th most scoring Serie A striker of all time. Boniperti spent his entire career as a professional footballer with Juventus and presented five League titles and two Coppa Italia titles. In the national team, Boniperti played 38 times, 24 times among them as a captain.
Source: Wikimedia Commons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciro_Ferrara
8. Ciro Ferrara
Ciro Ferrara is a formidable retired defensive leader who stayed with Juventus for eleven years. At the national team level, the player who is known for his toughness was often paired with other strong defenders like Maldini, Nesta, and Cannavaro. Ferrara's career with Juventus was very glorious, where he won a lot of trophies. Among them are five Serie A titles, one Champions League title, one UEFA Super Cup, and four Italian Super Cups.
Source: Flickr.com via CC
7. Roberto Baggio
During his carer, Baggio was a very creative player who usually played as an attacking midfielder or second striker. Recruited from Fiorentina for a considerably high transfer fee in 1990, Baggio quickly shone with Juventus. The player who was famous because of his ponytail hairstyle presented an Italian League title, a UEFA Cup and a Coppa Italia for this team. He also was named the world's best player in 1993 before being transferred to AC Milan in 1995.
Source: Wikimedia Commons: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zin%C3%A9dine_Zidane
6. Zinedine Zidane
I did not put Zidane in a higher ranking because a lot of people consider he had more successful career at Real Madrid than at Juventus. However, the retired French midfielder still had an important role in the history of La Vecchia Signora. He became an irreplaceable figure in the Juventus throughout the late 90s to early 2000s, before eventually being transferred to Real Madrid. In total, Zidane played for Juventus for 212 times and scored 31 goals.
5. Gaetano Scirea
Scirea is a retired sweeper who spent 14 years of his career as a professional footballer with Juventus. He was a very essential figure for this club. Scirea is one of the best defenders who could adopt catenaccio style, a super defensive football tactics that become the trademark of Italian team. During his career at Juventus, Scirea led his club win seven Italian league titles. With the Italian national team, he won the 1982 World Cup.
Source: Wikimedia Commons: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_S%C3%ADvori
4. Omar Sivori
Along with John Charles and Giampiero Boniperti, Sivori formed a deadly trident of Juventus in the period of 1950 to 1960. The footballer who played for two different national teams (Argentina and Italy) also has a very high goal ratio compared to other Juventus attackers. In 259 appearances, he successfully scored 174 goals. He also helped Juventus became a three-times winner of Italian League and two-time winner of the Coppa Italia tournament.
Source: Wikimedia Commons: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dino_Zoff
3. Dino Zoff
Not only in Juventus, Dino Zoff is also regarded as the most prominent goalkeeper in Italy. Over 11 years playing for La Vecchia Signora, Dino Zoff capped 479 times. He was also a central figure who led Juventus to be a Serie A champion for six times and helped the Italian national team win the World Cup 1982 and Euro 1968. After his retirement, Zoff had quite a success career as a coach for various clubs in the Italian League.
2. Michel Platini
Platini, who is currently working as the president of UEFA, is one of the best Juventus players of all time. The retired attacking midfielder became a dominant figure in the team during the period of 1982 to 1987. When he played for Juventus, Platini won three Ballon d'Or awards and three Italian League top scorer titles. Although only played for five seasons, Platini contributed a lot of memorable goals, assists, and trophies for Juventus.
1. Alessandro Del Piero
There is no other player who deserves the title as the best Juventus player of all time other than Alessandro Del Piero. Until now, the forward holds the all-time records as the player with the most appearances and goals for Juventus. During his nineteen years career at Juventus, Del Piero scored 289 goals in 785 appearances. He also acted as a captain of this team for eleven years. Before moving to Sydney FC, Alex helped Juventus win eight Serie A titles, one Champions League title, and many other prestigious trophies.