Juventus: Ranking the top 5 centre midfield transfer targets

Juventus are looking to balance their squad. And as the proverb goes, where there is a will, there is always a way. The upcoming summer transfer window will provide them with an appropriate opportunity to bring in some requisite names and cut off those considered surpluses to the team’s requirements.

With the arrival of Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus fans have found back some lost mojo. Once again, they are thinking of re-capturing the accolade snatched from them by Inter Milan, who have got their own mess to clean after an abrupt departure of Antonio Conte.

In the middle of an impending off-season game of signing and selling players, the Juventus hierarchy is assessing every possible way of carrying out smart dealings amid the financial turmoil inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the club should also be ready to inject cash where cash needs to be spent.

For instance, Juventus need to invest heavily in their midfield. The 2020-21 season unveiled the harsh reality — Juve’s current midfielders are not good enough. Perhaps they have the traits to play for Juventus and have had helped Juventus win a game on their own here and there. But that distinctive continuity of providing good performances is missing. Inconsistency has evidently engulfed consistency, and cries for quick changes have now become audible.

However, only saying that “we need midfielders” won’t alleviate the vulnerabilities. The management will have to make sure that they get their priorities. On the basis of the stories that have clouded the Piedmontese club, we have listed Juve’s centre-midfield targets in order of priority.

#5 Miralem Pjanic

One of the most absurd transfer stories that we have come across this summer so far includes Miralem Pjanic’s potential return to Juventus. Pjanic was a part of a mind-boggling swap deal that saw the Bosnian joining Barcelona and Arthur moving to Turin in June 2020.

This is still judged as one of the worst transfers made by the Blaugrana in the long history of the illustrious club, if not the worst. Pjanic, who had been an integral part of Juve under Allegri and then Sarri, seemingly initiated the phase of steady decline by the time he left Juventus. And accordingly, many believed that he was destined to fail for the Catalonian giants. And so did happen in his first season at Barca.

The 31-year-old played only 1,295 minutes of football (per Transfermarkt) across all competitions for Ronald Koeman’s side and was notably underwhelming with his performances. He never imitated the performances that made Juve buy the midfielder from AS Roma back in 2016.

And as a result, Barcelona are considering making another swap deal, this time with Rodrigo Bentancur. And if not that, a loan move would also do the job for Barca. It is nothing but a desperate attempt to offload Pjanic, an attempt to get rid of his sinister shadow.

The return of Massimiliano Allegri has been the focal point of this story. But we don’t think Allegri will be naive enough to bring back the Bosnia and Herzegovina international. As one of my colleagues in James Cormack opined, “Miralem Pjanic wasn’t the club’s future 18 months ago and he most certainly isn’t now.”