The Italian giants are due in Melbourne later this month to take on Ernie Merrick’s Victory with a bumper crowd expected after a tremendous response from supporters.

But what’s right for Melbourne is not necessarily right for Wellington and the club’s chief executive has no regrets.

Tony Pignata told au.fourfourtwo.com: “We did have Juventus us approach us to play them in a friendly here and there was some dialogue between the two clubs.

“Juventus is a big name in football but we have to look at whether something is going to be commercially viable for Wellington Phoenix.

“You have to examine whether or not you are going to at least break even when you enter into this type of thing and ultimately I didn’t believe that we would have a sell-out situation here.

“You look at the situation in Melbourne and you can fully understand why they have gone for it. There is obviously a big Italian population in the city and the match is a big pull.

“Terry (Serepisos) is the one who you are asking to write the cheque and ultimately you have a responsibility to make sure it will be money well spent and as a football club we have to make sure that the money you do spend is spent wisely.”

While Juventus will not be coming to Wellington to lock horns with Ricki Herbert’s men, the Phoenix could soon be on the road. Pignata confirmed that negotiations were ongoing for a tour of China in June.

He said: “Hopefully it will be an opportunity to play three matches over there and a chance for the squad to get some games under their belt.”

The Phoenix will launch their membership drive for 2008/9 on June 9 with a clear goal in mind. Pignata said: “We had over 2,500 members last season and this time we hope to get over 4,000.”