Juventus cannot give up Luca Pellegrini in swap deal for striker
Juventus are closing in on acquiring striker Arkadiusz Milik from Napoli.
Since Erling Haaland won’t be available this year and Mauro Icardi has already chosen PSG over Juventus, the Old Lady’s best and only realistic top striker option is Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik. While Milik isn’t a world-class player on the level of Haaland or Icardi, he is a starting-caliber striker who is entering his prime and could play the best football of his life in Turin.
Per a report from Romeo Agresti, via Forza Juventus, Milik has already approved a move to Juve. But the Old Lady need to figure out how to get Napoli to agree to a swap deal, because Napoli won’t give up Milik for cheap, knowing Juve’s need for a striker and Milik’s quality in Serie A.
According to a report from Sky Sport Italia, via Get Italian Football News, both Juventus and Tottenham are after Milik. While Tottenham could be willing to give up Lucas Moura, the Old Lady could send Napoli either winger Federico Bernardeschi or promising young fullback Luca Pellegrini.
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If it comes down to those two, Juve cannot pick Pellegrini as the player to use in a swap deal. Pellegrini alone might be more valuable than Milik over the long term. He’s a 21-year-old left back who has five assists this season in Serie A for Cagliari, with WhoScored.com crediting him with 1.3 dribbles per game and 1.3 tackles per game.
Pellegrini isn’t the finished product and still needs to develop consistency defensively and in terms of chance creation. But he looks like he could be the left back of the future for current star Alex Sandro.
Meanwhile, Bernardeschi is a talented player, but he’s 26, the same age as Milik, and currently struggling for Juve.
The Bianconeri have been eyeing Bernardeschi as a player they can offload in a swap deal for a slightly better, making up the difference in cash.
That’s exactly the formula they followed when swapping Miralem Pjanic to Barcelona for Arthur Melo, and it’s one they’ll continue to use.
Bernardeschi could be useful to Napoli and benefit from a change in scenery as star man Jose Callejon’s replacement. Milik himself will likely be replaced with the younger Victor Osimhen from Lille, while Milik would be Juve’s replacement for the aging Gonzalo Higuain on an expiring contract.
Next. Juve can get Zaniolo at a discount price. dark
Milik is the Bianconeri’s best option, but he’s not good enough to mortgage the future on. Swapping Bernardeschi is a sensible idea, and Juve can easily make up the difference in value. If Pellegrini reaches his full potential in the next few years, swapping him to a potential Serie A challenger in Napoli would be a terrible move.