30 December 2016
Juve spent much of the summer travelling the four corners of the globe, with international tournaments on both sides of the Atlantic in June and a two-week Jeep Tour 2016 to the Southern Hemisphere in July.
Throw in a trip to England to inaugurate West Ham United's London Stadium in early August and plenty of exciting captures in the transfer window and the long summer wait without Serie A was almost bearable for Juventini.
euro 2016 and copa america
A large number of Juventus players were involved in summer tournaments with their national sides this year.
For a start, there was our Italy contingent of Gigi Buffon, Leo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Daniele Rugani, Giorgio Chiellini and Stefano Sturaro in France for the Euros (Claudio Marchisio missed the tournament through injury).
After knocking out the holders Spain, the Azzurri lost to Sami Khedira's Germany on spot-kicks in the quarter-finals.
Paul Pogba and Patrice Evra made it all the way to the final with the host nation before succumbing to Portugal after extra time and a penalty shootout.
Also putting in an appearance at the European Championships was Mario Mandzukic together with his Croatian team-mate and future Juve man Marko Pjaca, one of the brightest young stars of the tournament.
Elsewhere Stephan Lichtsteiner and Alvaro Morata turned out for Switzerland and Spain respectively.
Meanwhile the Copa America Centenario was held on the other side of the pond, with Juan Cuadrado featuring for Colombia and soon-to-be Bianconeri Dani Alves and Gonzalo Higuain turning out for Brazil and Argentina.
PRE-SEASON TRAINING BEGINS
With many of our international contingent enjoying a late holiday, a depleted squad met back in Vinovo in early July to kick off pre-season preparations.
On 17 July Massimiliano Allegri's men set off for the first leg of their Juventus Jeep Tour 2016 in Australia, where they took on Melbourne Victory (23 July) and Tottenham (26 July) in friendly matches.
After ten day's work on Australian soil, the Bianconeri moved to Hong Kong, where a South China XI provided the opposition.
The squad made the return trip to Italy on 30 July with their Serie A curtain-raiser against Fiorentina now just a few weeks away.
But before the serious business of initiating our Scudetto defence could get under way, there were a couple more friendlies to be played.
First, we helped West Ham inaugurate their new stadium on 7 August, a game we won 3-2...
...then, on 13 August, we faced off against Espanyol in Modena (2-2 the final score).
Comings and goings
Off the field, it was a busy summer in the transfer market as we said goodbye to Simone Zaza, Paul Pogba, Martin Caceres, Simone Padoin, Mauricio Isla, Roberto Pereyra and Rubinho.
However, those departures were more than compensated for by a host of big-name signings. Two players who spent the 2015/16 season at Juve completed permanent moves to Turin as Mario Lemina was signed outright and Juan Cuadrado returned to Vinovo having spent the summer months at Chelsea.
Then there were the new faces, with Medhi Benatia, Marko Pjaca, Dani Alves, Miralem Pjanic and Gonzalo Higuain all becoming Bianconeri players.
Here's a quick recap of the Argentine striker's unveiling in Turin:
With the squad now reassembled – and considerably bolstered the Bianconeri were all set to kick off another big season!
