Unlock Editor’s Digest Lock for Free
FT editor Roula Khalaf will select your favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Giorgio Ciellini never imagined that he would one day work behind a desk at Juventus, one of Italy’s leading soccer clubs, as a boy who grew up in Livorno, a gritty Tuscan port town known for his anarchist humor.
Instead, he pursued his childhood dream of playing the game to play the game, becoming one of the greatest defenders of all time, winning club and country titles as the captain of the old lady, the nickname of Juventus on Turin base, and captain of both the Italian national team.
But Chiellini’s second act is not a story of a critic with no faded glory or purpose. It’s about his intentions, preparations and quiet and friendly ambitions that betrayed his ferociousness on the pitch on his playing day. At 40, Chiellini found exactly where he wanted. In the engine room of one of Europe’s largest football clubs, it helps to guide the future from the front office rather than from the touchline.
“I always knew I wouldn’t be a coach,” says a person at the point of clubs with a sports governing body, such as UEFA and FIFA, who are head of soccer organizational relationships at Juventus. “Even in my playing career, I was always fascinated by the management and business side of the club rather than just the sport side. I also knew I didn’t want to spend the next chapter of my life on a new Ronaldo or Messi.”
While still playing at the highest level, Chiellini began plotting his next move. In his early 20s, he enrolled in economics and commerce degrees. This is an unconventional decision for young Italian footballers, with training schedules and national team appeals rarely allowing room for exams. However, Chiellini found a university that was flexible enough to accommodate his performance commitment, and spent much of his time between games, or on trips to write textbooks and papers to read and manage the game.
His master’s dissertation was a financial analysis of Juventus, comparing the club’s business model with Real Madrid, the gold standard for global football when it comes to monetizing the game. Like those who have moved from classrooms to actual office work, Chierini acknowledges the huge gap between theory and reality. “You can plan and study as much as you want, but when you actually start, it’s always different. You need to learn in the field.
If it sounds like a meeting room, it is delivered with Ciellini’s trademark humility. There is a tenderness in the way of disarming, especially for those who are known to play with a snap of the tendon once during a match. “I’m very fortunate,” he says frequently. “I’m not saying I don’t deserve it, but I’m grateful every day.”
He is a rare former player who comfortably speaks about environmental, social, governance (ESG) goals, emerging investments, and horizontal organizational charts, and does so without pretending.
At Los Angeles FC, a major league soccer club in the US, he spent the final play he played over the years of his career, taking on a kind of internship within the club’s front office. He attended commercial and strategy meetings, developed relationships with team executives, and learned how American clubs balance sports and entertainment. “It gave me a completely different perspective than Europe,” he says. “They treated me like a family, but also like a student. I asked a lot of questions.”
Chiellini believes longtime coach Andrea Agnelli has helped Andrea Agnelli, a former president of Juventus and a member of the club’s family, think early about life after football. “Andrea and I had so many conversations,” he recalls. “He asks me: Where do you see yourself? What do you want to do? Those chats helped me form my vision.”
That vision is in the present tense. Chiellini has returned to Juventus in the executive role, continuing to hone his business instincts while contributing to the club’s wider organizational orientation.
In addition to enforcing football, he said he launched an early-stage investor consortium, partnered with former media venture teammates, and supported several startups with AI and fashion. Still, he insists that his energy is focused. “70% of my time is for Juventus. 20 for my family.
The biggest change between being a player and being an executive is his experience of pressure in his daily life. “On the sports side, the pressure is constant and immediate. It focuses on the outcome and sometimes prevents people from looking at large pictures. The pressure is different in the front office. We are still affected by what happens on the field, but the balance is growing.”
More about soccer business
His ultimate ambition? To become Juventus’ Karl Heinz Rammeniz, he says he does not hesitate to mention the former German footballer, one of the best forwards of his generation who helped transform Bayern Munich into a global commercial juggernaut. “He’s all done a career in performance, leadership, vision. I don’t want to copy him, but I admire the way he made that transition.”
To praise Chiellini for someone else’s way of speaking volumes about his personality. He could easily rest in the glory of his career – the Nine Serie A title, the European Championship with his national team, and realize that he is there as one of the greatest defenders of all time, but instead he carries himself like a humble apprentice. “I look like I’m 25 again and am beginning my second career,” he says. “The only difference is that I bring experience from the field. But I still have a lot to learn.”
For Chiellini, the journey from player to executive is not about hanging, but about creating something that lasts. And for Juventus, it may be the best signature they have done in years.
