Juventus ready for life without Alessandro Del Piero

The legend's days at Juventus Stadium are numbered after the announcement this week that his contract will not be renewed next summer, but some reports are linking him to San SiroWhen Andrea Agnelli gave Juventus fans forewarning of the summer departure of Alessandro Del Piero earlier this week, you could almost hear the collective gasp all around Italy. The country’s biggest club is about to lose its biggest icon, hero, pillar and symbol. In deciding to call time on the captain’s time at Vinovo, the board have come to terms with the fact that they must prepare for life without Del Piero. But the question now remains as to whether there is life after Juve for the man himself as a footballer.After almost two decades of marvellous hat-tricks, Champions League heroics, spectacular set-pieces and virtual solo performances, the curtain will come down on a long and glorious career as a Bianconero on May 13 when Juve host Atalanta at Juventus Stadium. Anything other than an outpouring of love and appreciation for the No.10 that day would be a scandal, while the club’s fans will be hoping that there is also a Scudetto triumph to celebrate at the same time.In the meantime, Del Piero now has the next seven months to decide on his next step. When he celebrates his 37th birthday next month, it will be his last as a Juventus player, and as he blows out the candles on his cake on November 9 he will no doubt be pondering whether he wants to still be playing when he turns 38. The mistake of including Del Piero’s name in lists of one-club men is often made, but while he made 14 appearances for Padova before his transfer to Juve in 1993, his commitment, effort and stature all speak of a person with Juventus running through his veins. To all intents and purposes, Del Piero IS a one-club man. So how hard would it be for the club legend to wear anything other than the black and white? On the club’s part, the decision wasn’t a hard one. With Del Piero sitting on the bench every week, his has become a wage they can remove from the bill with more ease than would have been the case previously.The Bianconeri will no doubt suffer a dip of some sort during this term, and it has been during those spells that the skipper has risen to the occasion in seasons past, but the club is seemingly geared for higher places once more, both on and off the field, and Del Piero might have turned out to be little more than a celebrity passenger by the age of 38.While the timing of the decision has attracted the criticism of Luciano Moggi, it was clearly a political move by Agnelli. Had they waited until March or April, as the former transfer chief has suggested should have happened, they may well have been left having to broach the subject with the fans at a point when the club was out of the Scudetto running. At least now they can be sure to bury the bad news amongst the good, while allowing the supporters time to come to terms with their loss.However, there are now likely to be other clubs interested in prolonging Del Piero’s playing career even though Juventus are not. You can’t keep a good man down, as they say, and the winner of 91 Italy caps has already been the subject of speculation regarding interest from AC Milan. Other rumours are bound to fly around, but he will doubtless also be given the option of a role at Juventus away from the playing field, whether it be on the coaching staff, as happened with Gianluca Pessotto, or on the board alongside Pavel Nedved. He may even be offered the kind of ambassadorial role Zinedine Zidane was handed by Real Madrid upon his retirement.Yet, for the moment at least, there may still be the belief in the player’s mind that he has more than just seven months as a top-level footballer left in him, and if a concrete offer from a club of Milan’s stature were to materialise, Del Piero would surely think long and hard about taking it.His status as a Juventus legend is assured, but a final fling with one of the club’s biggest rivals may well prove too good an offer to turn down.