Juventus: Ranking the top transfer targets for Bianconeri this summer
Juventus, being a huge brand as far as Italian football is concerned, have been and always will be at the centre of transfer-oriented discussions.
They get linked to names that they truly admire but also to those they don’t. But it is our responsibility, as the fans, to pick the right options and ignore the rumours that are put out there to buy our valuable time.
Thus, we’ve decided to formulate a chart where we will be ranking the most commonly linked players by the likelihood of them joining Juventus. Last month, we did the same for the midfielders. This time, it will include all the positions across the pitch.
With Gianluigi Buffon leaving the Bianconeri to join his former club Parma earlier this summer and Mattia Perin returning from his loan spell at Genoa, it is believed that the dilemmas around the goalkeeping position have been resolved with Wojciech Szczesny as the club’s number one, Perin potentially being the second-choice custodian, and finally, Carlo Pinsoglio performing his usual job of pushing the former two as the team’s third-choice shot-stopper.
That said, what further changes might we see in other aspects of the field? Let’s take a look!
[N.B. All the rumours/transfer targets are rated on the scale from1 to 5, where “1” indicates that the respective deal is impossible to go through and the number “5” means that the move is surely going to happen sooner or later.]
Defenders
Going in the 2021/22 season, Juventus’ new manager Massimiliano Allegri has inherited a decent group of players. When it comes to the central defensive department, the Old Lady possess talented outlets such as Matthijs de Ligt, Radu Dragusin, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini (who will sign a one-year extension with the Bianconeri), Daniele Rugani (who has recently returned to Juve following his loan at Cagliari), and Merih Demiral (who may or may not leave the club this summer).
The right-back position has the players like Juan Cuadrado and Danilo. Despite surpassing the mark of 30, they never drop their consistency, which makes them two of the most reliable players at the club. Then, we shouldn’t forget Mattia De Sciglio, although his future remains a little foggy.
But, on the opposite flank, the left-back position—many believe—is crying out for reinforcements. An aged Alex Sandro has notably lost his pace and agility. Luca Pellegrini (who is still vastly inexperienced at 22) and Gianluca Frabotta (who has been linked with a move away from Turin this summer) are possible alternatives, but perhaps the club lacks that body currently peaking at all formats of the game.
As such, we present to you the defenders (or full-backs) who have been in and around the Juventus’ transfer agenda this summer. Let’s now gauge the possibilities of them moving to the home of 36-time Scudetto champions.
Emerson Palmieri (2/5): As mentioned in our piece while thoroughly discussing the replacements for Frabotta and also a backup for Alex Sandro, Emerson Palmieri, 26, belongs to the age group that Juventus hierarchy should be looking at when targeting a left-back this summer. However, the reports in Italy insist that Napoli are more serious and determined to conclude a deal for the 2020/2021 Champions League winner with Chelsea at the moment. Juventus, hence, are likely to miss out on the former Roma man.
Robin Gosens (2/5): Gosens has been considered a fitting contender to replace Alex Sandro for more than a year now. But what was one year ago has now completely changed. Gosens’ market value has swelled, as has his importance to Gian Piero Gasperini. Atalanta won’t let him leave unless an ambitious offer arrives for the German this summer, claims Tuttomercatoweb.com. Since Juventus have their financial limitations amid the pandemic-impacted market, we don’t expect a push from them for the 27-year-old Atalanta star.
Ramy Bensebaini (2/5): We have already succeeded in explaining the strengths as well as the weaknesses of Ramy Bensebaini. In short, he is what Alex Sandro is not. A left full-back by trade, Bensebaini could be deployed also as a centre-half as he has a firm grip on the defensive side of his game. Considering that, the Algerian could be a potential cover for Juve’s veteran centre-backs like Bonucci and Chiellini. Borussia Mönchengladbach is reportedly ready to sell him for a transfer fee of around €25 million, which currently feels unreasonable to Juventus. As of now, there is not much optimism working around the deal.
Alex Telles (1/5): Alex Telles joined Manchester United from Porto last summer. Yes, he has not been successful in dethroning Luke Shaw from a starting place in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s starting line-up, but the doesn’t mean that he is available in the market. At the start of the ongoing summer window, reports from Calciomercato (via Express.co.uk) revealed the possibility of a swap deal including United’s Telles and Juve’s Adrien Rabiot. With both Telles and Rabiot now poised to stay put at their current stations, there is no way of the Brazilian arriving in Turin this summer.