What are Juventus’ summer transfer window priorities?

Juventus need a bit at each level of their squad in the summer window, and they’ll luckily have good players to choose from

Juventus will look different next season, that much can be sure. Names like Paulo Dybala, Moise Kean, Arthur Melo, Adrien Rabiot, Alex Sandro and others should be gone, while Giorgio Chiellini could hang up his boots or venture off to MLS. Alvaro Morata’s future is up in the air as well.

That means that, without question, the team will have to be refreshed during the summer transfer window.

Others will return to make up a strong core, including Manuel Locatelli, Denis Zakaria and Federico Chiesa. They will play important roles in the progress that this team can make from this year to next, as will those who are brought into to bolster the Bianconeri ranks.

Max Allegri – or whoever is in charge at the start of next season – will have to get another attacking piece to compliment Dusan Vlahovic and replace the productive Paulo Dybala. A more creative and assertive midfielder is also necessary to fill the imaginative void left by La Joya.

Furthermore, defensive help is also required. While Juventus’ defence has performed pretty well this season, veterans Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci have both got a year older, and qualitative improvements are necessary at left-back.

Juventus must prioritise their needs but they should be able to get most of them covered this summer

The potential mass exodus of players from Juventus will lighten the wage load that the team carries, and the sales of other players will help the coffers – however barren they’re reported to be – pay for the names that might be purchased or signed on free transfers.

So, how are Juventus go about hastening their rebuild this summer?

First is the middle of the park. While injuries have hampered the squad this year, and perhaps nowhere more obviously than in central midfield, some improvements can be made that will accentuate the current crop of Juventus midfielders. Two names that come to mind are Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Paul Pogba.

Juve are supposedly ‘crazy’ about the former and intrigued by the idea of reuniting with the latter. Both will be expensive deals for different reasons, but the club are desperate to make a big splash at this position to mitigate the loss of Dybala. It’ll also be interesting to see whether they bring in another regista, perhaps Chelsea’s Jorginho. But this shouldn’t be high on the list of priorities.

Finding the finances to sign an important piece or two in the midfield will be helped by the potential sales of Arthur and Rabiot. But, other positions need bolstering and money is not infinite, even for Juventus.

Juventus must look to help Vlahovic and De Ligt more directly this Summer too

Addressing the middle of the park should take the pressure off both the defensive line and the attack moving forward, but each still needs more direct help.

Moise Kean has not been the answer upon his return to Italy, and Dusan Vlahovic could do with an improvement on Alvaro Morata, who should be a useful squad player moving forward. However, there are no guarantees over the Spaniard’s future.

Thus, the Bianconeri have to get another young, growing star to accompany the dynamic Vlahovic, purchased just this winter from Fiorentina, and diversify Juventus’ attack.

Might that be Giacomo Raspadori? I think that would be a thoughtful, promising and affordable signing. There are other names that I’ve alluded to, including Nicolo Zaniolo. Could we see Juve bring in both of these young Italian stars this summer?

And then we come to the back of the shape. Who will replace the likes of Chiellini and Alex Sandro in this Juventus team? My thoughts are that Renan Lodi could be snagged from Atletico Madrid for the right fee. Diego Simeone never seems too afraid to lose a player with the system and culture he has built at that club after all.

Meanwhile, could Antonio Rudiger be the man to replace Chiellini as a pillar of the Juve backline alongside Matthijs de Ligt? The impending free agent is admired across the continent and might be easier to sign because of everything unfurling at and regarding Chelsea right now. These would be great additions that would stabilise and quickly improve the Bianconeri.

However, we have to be realistic. Juventus surely won’t be able to afford the optimal option at every required position this summer. That’s why prioritisation is important. Bolstering the midfield, and mitigating for the loss of Dybala has to be the greatest area of need for Juve this summer.