Juventus would like to sign a star attacker this summer, and they have been linked to two Barcelona stars.
The easiest way to replace Gonzalo Higuain is to sign Arkadiusz Milik, who wants to join Juventus more than any other club. Milik is a proven commodity in Serie A and was great in 2018-2019 before producing a decent season in 2019-2020 amidst Napoli’s struggles.
However, Juve won’t settle for the easiest option without investigating other options. Alexandre Lacazette and Raul Jimenez are two Premier League stars who could end up in Turin, but Juve may be aiming even higher.
According to a report from Corriere dello Sport, via Football-Italia.net, Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici could have interest in the Barcelona duo of Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez. Both players could leave Barça this summer, since La Blaugrana will be in a state of transition after an embarrassing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League and a poor 2019-2020 La Liga campaign.
Between the two Barcelona forwards, Griezmann is the much better option and the only one who should pique Juve’s interest. Suarez had 16 goals and eight assists last season for La Blaugrana, but the 33-year-old isn’t the kind of player the Bianconeri need to be looking at to replace Higuain. He’s still effective, but he’s declining. Juve need someone on the ascent.
Antoine Griezmann would be another star attacker in his prime for Juventus
Griezmann, meanwhile, is expensive but in his prime. He had a mere nine goals and four assists in La Liga in a mediocre first season at Barcelona, but he was better than people think. Griezmann suffered from having to be on the periphery of the game on the left side, which is the worst place to play him. He didn’t fit a team that revolved their entire game around Lionel Messi, to the detriment of Griezmann and other players.
At Juventus, Griezmann could play through the middle with Paulo Dybala on the right or on the right with Dybala staying in the middle. He and Cristiano Ronaldo could actually work well together, though if Juve want a wide forward, they may want someone more creative.
The problem with Griezmann is he’s so costly that it seems like a pipe dream to acquire him. Juventus already have to deal with players on high wages, and they are already sinking a lot of money into forwards Ronaldo and Dybala, with the latter needing a lucrative extension.
In order to acquire Griezmann, Juve would have to part ways with a key player or two in a swap deal. Barcelona could value some players more than Juve, but it may take someone of importance to bring in Griezmann. And since the strength of the Bianconeri lies in the attack with Dybala and Ronaldo, it’s hard to see many swap deals for Griezmann being wise.
Griezmann is a great player, and it’s good that Juventus may be doing their due diligence to acquire a star who isn’t fitting an underperforming team. But it’s hard to envision a scenario in which this deal would get done.