In Italy the January transfer window is often referred to as "il mercato di riparazione" (the transfer window to repair things). Juventus' executive director Beppe Marotta reminded everyone of this in his pre match interview against Napoli last Sunday, a game Juve would go on to win making it their first victory at San Paolo stadium since 2000. Juventus sits at the top of the table in Serie A, they are in the round of 16 of the Champions League, and have given extensions to all of their key players (except for Tevez)- I don't think even the most optimistic Juve fan could have expected this on the day Conte abruptly left the club.
Despite all these facts, there has been a lot of unrest amongst Juventini on Twitter. I get that as Don Draper famously said Mad Men "Happiness is a moment until you want more happiness" but the Old Lady is in very good shape. I'm often asked "What is Juve waiting for?" "How come all the other teams are doing something and Juve isn't?"- well the answer is fairly simple, unlike those other teams Juve has nothing really urgent to "repair" in January- the club has the luxury to try to find the right opportunity to bring in a player on their terms, just like they did last January with Osvaldo.
While there was a lot of disappointment over losing the Shaqiri race (more to come on him shortly), especially to Inter, it's also important to remember Juventus prioritized resigning their own players in recent months. Marotta was able to agree to terms with Pogba, Lichtsteiner (who received substantial raises), Chiellini and Buffon- and this was after getting Vidal and Pirlo to do the same in previous months. When you look at how many key players leave Serie A teams every year, this isn't something that should be underestimated. New signing are exciting but extensions also cost money.
Juventus did not want to have a forced option to buy Shaqiri since he is more of a winger than a "trequartista", they didn't want to be stuck having to pay for a player they weren't convinced really fit their formation. In addition, it was always going to be an uphill battle to convince Bayern Munich to sell him to them after the acrimony from the Vidal transfer a few years ago (didn't hurt Inter's chances that the German club's CEO Rummenigge played for Inter in the 80s). Falcao isn't a possibility in January since he has already played official matches for two teams this season (which also applies to Chicharito Hernandez).
So what can we expect from the Old Lady in next two weeks? Juventus is focused on trying to find a creative midfielder to play behind the strikers as well depth for the defense. They talked to Sneijder's agent, but Galatasaray doesn't want to sell him since it would cause a revolt with their fans. They talked to Mkhitaryan's agent Mino Raiola (who also represents Pogba and has a very strong relationship with Juve) but the Armenian international appears to want to stay at Dortmund at least until the end of the season (also would be odd for the German club to sell him right before they face Juve in the Champions League, although he couldn't play for the bianconeri).
Juventus also talked to Manchester City about Jovetic, a player the bianconeri strongly pursued when he was at Fiorentina. This appears to be a much more likely deal in the summer than January, although now there is a new wrinkle with City landing Bony. But Juve may not even need another offensive player should they decide to give more playing time to Coman and Giovinco rest of the season. While he isn't an offensive midfielder, Juventus may anticipate Sturaro's return from Genoa in January- he has been impressive this season and he would bring good depth to Allegri's bench with Asamoah out.
The defense is an area of concern for Marotta. The uncertainty surrounding Barzagli's return, and the recent injury to Ogbonna should give Juve more urgency to close the deal for Rolando (who played very well at Inter last season) but Porto is a tough club to negotiate with. For the wing back position, Juve does have the luxury to use Caceres in that role, but the bianconeri are also linked to Udinese's Widmer and Sassuolo's Vrsaljko and maybe able to count on Romulo (who is coming off a superb season at Hellas Verona) who would be like a new purchase since he barely played.
So while Juventus hasn't had a very exciting January window, it's important to remember that they have already taken care of business previously by resigning players, and putting together a roster good enough to be at top of the Serie A table and in round of 16 of Champions League despite losing an iconic coach like Conte. At this point Juve has the luxury of waiting for the right opportunity.
