Juventus begin their Serie B adventure this afternoon, but director Jean Claude Blanc warns it’ll take five years for them to return to their former glories.


“We’re in Serie B and out of Europe, so we need to renegotiate our sponsorship contracts. We had to have a solid and credible project to convince Tamoil at the other business partners to stay, explaining this team will return to the top,” said the Frenchman.


“Sky Italia and Nike are also interested in remaining, as this is an opportunity for them to share in the history of a club that has its roots in 109 years of glory. I’ll propose a four-year contract with Tamoil, because that’s how long we’ll need to complete the project.”


The Bianconeri hope to achieve promotion back into the top flight immediately, even with the 17-point Calciopoli handicap, but Blanc warns the fans will need to be more patient.


“We must be clear and explain to the supporters that we are doing the utmost to defend the honour and reputation of Juventus. We all want the same thing, but if I say we’ll need four or five years to achieve it, that’s realistic rather than a lack of ambition. With Juve in Serie B we have reached the end of an era and it took a long time to build that squad.”


The Turin giants are already out of the Coppa Italia and begin their campaign away to Rimini this afternoon.


“We have maintained a competitive side with eight internationals,” pointed out Blanc. “It wasn’t a wise decision from a financial perspective, but if we consider our ambitions and the history of this side, it was the correct choice.”


David Trezeguet and Mauro Camoranesi were angling for summer moves, but both remained at Juventus.


“We could’ve sold more champions and freed ourselves of top flight wages, but we gave the priority to sporting merit to get back into Serie A. This is what made us hold firm with those players who wanted to leave. We respect your contract, you must do the same. They understood and accepted the challenge. We won’t forget that.”


Others decided to help the rebirth of this club, including Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon and Pavel Nedved.


“I thanked all of them yesterday and it won’t be hard to remember them – there weren’t many who chose to help Juventus.”