Juventus tried to trade for Zaniolo, but Roma didn’t like the offer.
This summer will be the summer of swap deals for Juventus and clubs around Europe, as transfers, such as Timo Werner’s reported move to Chelsea from RB Leipzig, involving cash only will be a rarity in the current market.
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The Old Lady have been in swap deal negotiations with Barcelona for Arthur Melo, Chelsea for Jorginho, and other clubs.
They also have a number of targets on their list in Serie A, such as Napoli striker Arkadiusz Milik, Brescia midfielder Sandro Tonali, and Roma midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo.
Juve’s interest in Zaniolo is high, as he would be a young midfielder who can immediately transform their team.
Maurizio Sarri needs much better options in the middle of the park than free signings Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey, who could be on their way out after poor 2019-2020 seasons thus far.
Rabiot seems more likely to leave than Ramsey, for what it’s worth.
According to reports from Corriere dello Sport and La Repubblica, via GetFootballNewsItaly.com, Roma have rejected Juve’s latest deal for Zaniolo.
The Bianconeri reportedly offered out-of-favor attacking midfielder and winger Federico Bernardeschi to the Serie A club for Zaniolo. It’s unsurprising Roma rejected the straight-up swap, as they reportedly view Zaniolo as a 60 million euro player. At 26, it’s hard to see Bernardeschi being worth that much to Roma in the midst of a poor 2019-2020 campaign.
Meanwhile, Zaniolo is just 20 years old and has scored four goals in Serie A this season, with two goals and two assists in 446 Europa League minutes. An excellent dribbler of the ball who won more than four dribbles per game in European competition, per WhoScored.com, Zaniolo could be a great link to the attack for Cristiano Ronaldo in 2020-2021.
It would be wise for Juventus to send Roma an improved offer for Zaniolo, because he is an excellent player.