Source of goals from midfield
While Juventus will sign a player that can come close to matching Dybala’s output in the front line this summer, the club also want their big-money midfield arrival to mitigate the loss of La Joya.
Milinkovic-Savic isn’t a playmaker as such, but he’ll certainly fill the Argentine’s production void in Turin. He’s a goalscorer more than he is a creator. In 287 Lazio appearances, the 27-year-old has registered 56 goals and 49 assists. This season, he’s already matched his most productive Serie A campaign in Biancocelesti colours after 30 games. The midfielder’s got nine goals and nine assists, matching his 18 goal contributions haul from last season.
Juventus are in desperate need of another source of goals, especially from midfield. Dybala and Alvaro Morata lead the Bianconeri’s Serie A scoring charts this term with eight strikes. After that, January arrival Dusan Vlahovic and Juan Cuadrado are tied with four. Locatelli, who’s primarily functioned as a regista, and McKennie, who didn’t become a regular until November and has been injured since February, lead Juve’s midfielders with a measly three Serie A goals.
To evolve into a less predictable, more multi-faceted unit, Juve require an alternate source of goals. Milinkovic-Savic undoubtedly provides that. He’s so instinctive in the penalty area, and he gets himself into some brilliant positions. The Serb’s npxG (non-penalty expected goals) per shot sits in the 82nd percentile of all midfielders from Europe’s top-five leagues over the past year.
The Lazio man also ranks in the 99th percentile for shots on target per 90 minutes (0.84), 97th for goals per 90 (0.28) and 96th for xG per 90 (0.21).
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