Juventus should try to sign Milan star Hakan Calhanoglu

Juventus shouldn’t be desperate to make major signings, but Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu is an established star whose situation should be on their radar.

After seven Serie A Matchdays, AC Milan sit atop the league table, as ageless striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads the way with eight goals in 450 minutes. He and Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo could have an entertaining battle for the Capocannoniere this season, mirroring the title race the Rossoneri and Bianconeri could have, too.

While Milan are impressing and Zlatan is grabbing headlines, the upcoming contract situation regarding another one of their key players has led to transfer speculation, and both bitter rivals Inter Milan and Juventus are involved.

According to a report from Tuttosport, via Football-Italia.net, both Juve and Inter have interest in signing Milan’s attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, who is one of the most talented and under-appreciated players in his role in all of European football.

Calhanoglu and Milan have been in contract talks for months with no real movement, and the player’s contract ends when the season does. So it is possible a team like Inter or Juve could make a swap deal with Milan this winter in order to secure his services for 2021-2022, and Tuttosport even reports that Juve are prepared to offer Federico Bernardeschi, who has some talent but has no real place in the club.

Although Calhanoglu is a completely different player in both his position and playing style, he is much, much better than Bernardeschi. He’s also even more productive and less injury-prone than Juve’s current top attacking midfielder of choice under Andrea Pirlo, Aaron Ramsey.

Calhanoglu has been excellent to start the 2020-2021 season. The former Bundesliga star is Serie A’s leader in key passes per game with 3.9, according to WhoScored.com. He’s also drawn 1.7 fouls per game.

The season before, Calhanoglu had two key passes per game with a total of nine goals and assists. He can score or create a goal at any given moment, especially from set pieces. He is one of Serie A’s best set-piece takers, which is something Juve have been looking to replace after trading Miralem Pjanic to Barcelona for Arthur Melo.

Signing Hakan Calhanoglu for free would be ideal for Juventus

Calhanoglu for Bernardeschi is a great deal for Juventus, but it’s almost too good to be true. Milan may be forced to deal Calhanoglu, and his wages could make Inter and Juve the only suitable Serie A landing spots. So between the two of them, a deal with Juve is preferable, even if the Rossoneri would probably prefer neither landing spot. And at least Bernardeschi could offer something of value to a new club. The issue, of course, is Bernardeschi’s wages are difficult to manage under his current contract.

There are a lot of moving parts, but the most appealing thing is the prospect of Juventus signing him for free. In David Alaba and now Calhanoglu, Juve could potentially sign two star players for free next summer.

The only way to guarantee Calhanoglu is to trade for him, but if they can’t get Milan to accept a low-ball offer involving Bernardeschi, it isn’t worth it for the Bianconeri. Calhanoglu is a talented player who is worth pursuing on a free, and Juve could continue to do their due diligence.

They should not jump into anything and must be careful not to overpay, but a player who leads the league in key passes per game and had nearly 20 goal contributions in 2019-2020 for a previously mediocre Milan side is well-worth targeting.