Juventus Restructures Football Operations with Massara and Chiellini
Juventus redraw their power map. One of Italy’s most storied clubs has handed the keys of its football operation to Frederic Massara and entrusted Giorgio Chiellini with a broader institutional brief, in a double move that underlines the scale of the rebuild in Turin.
Massara takes charge of football
Barely a month after leaving Roma, Massara has walked into one of the most scrutinised jobs in European football. Juventus confirmed the 57-year-old as their new Chief Football Officer on Tuesday, placing him at the heart of the men’s sporting project.
In his new role, Massara will report directly to Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Carnevali and oversee the management and development of the men’s football division. That means strategy, squad planning, and the long-term sporting blueprint, all drawn up in tandem with Sporting Director Marco Ottolini.
It is a significant hire. Massara’s reputation was forged through high-level work at AC Milan and AS Roma, where he became regarded as one of the game’s sharpest executives. Juventus are banking on that track record to modernise and stabilise a department that has been under heavy pressure in recent seasons.
The club’s own statement underlined that point, stressing his responsibility for “defining and implementing the Club’s sporting strategies and projects” and highlighting his contribution to “a number of prestigious clubs, including AC Milan and AS Roma.”
This is not a cosmetic appointment. It is a structural pivot.
Chiellini steps into a bigger arena
Alongside Massara’s arrival, Juventus have reshaped the role of one of their most iconic figures.
After a year as Director of Football Strategy, Giorgio Chiellini moves into the newly created position of Chief Club Affairs Officer. The title is fresh, the mission clear: Chiellini becomes the club’s bridge to the outside world.
He will front Juventus’ engagement with key institutions, strategic stakeholders and sporting organisations in Italy and abroad. In plain terms, Chiellini will be the polished, battle-tested face of Juventus in boardrooms, corridors of power and high-level negotiations, just as he once was on the pitch.
For a club still navigating the political and regulatory aftershocks of recent years, placing a respected, multilingual former captain in that role is no small statement. Chiellini’s job now is to defend Juventus’ interests off the field as fiercely as he once did inside the penalty area.
Carnevali’s stamp on the new Juventus
The twin announcements also shine a light on Carnevali himself. Appointed only last month to replace Damien Comolli, whose tenure at the Allianz Stadium lasted barely a year, the CEO has wasted no time in reshaping the hierarchy.
“I am convinced that we are building a solid, competent and cohesive structure, capable of supporting our ambitions both now and in the future,” Carnevali said, welcoming Massara into “the great Bianconeri family” and praising his “expertise and in-depth knowledge of football” as a perfect complement to the existing staff.
Those are not throwaway lines. Carnevali is clearly intent on constructing a tighter, more defined chain of command: Massara to run football, Ottolini to work the market, Chiellini to manage institutional clout, all feeding into the CEO. After years of turbulence, Juventus are trying to look and feel like a club with a clear internal map again.
Squad building begins
The front-office overhaul is already feeding into the pitch. Juventus have confirmed their first signing of the summer, landing Italy winger Jeff Ekhator in a deal worth €18m including add-ons.
It is an early signal that this is not just a paper revolution. New executives, new roles, and now new players. The question is no longer whether Juventus are changing, but how far this new structure can carry them back to the top.
