Juventus still need one more standout in the midfield. Despite signing Manuel Locatelli last summer and Denis Zakaria in the winter, Juve still lack both attacking verve and end product in the midfield, which has partially explained the Bianconeri’s goal-scoring woes – particularly against top teams in Serie A and the Champions League.
Former Juventino Paul Pogba and current Serie A standout Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are widely seen as the dream options for the Bianconeri this summer. They are certainly not the only players Juve could sign to bolster their midfield, but these are the two names Juventini want the most. And for good reason. Juve are lacking in star power in the midfield, and one of these players could conceivably be that star man.
Assessing whether Juventus should sign Paul Pogba or Sergej Milinkovic-Savic this summer
But which one would be better? Let’s create some categories to compare these two midfield stalwarts head-to-head before selecting a winner.
Goal-scoring
We might as well begin with the category that most directly impacts Juve’s wins and losses. Who scores more goals? It’s a tricky question because while Pogba scored at least seven goals in three straight Serie A seasons for the Old Lady and once scored 13 goals in the Premier League to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s career-high of 12 in Serie A, I would lean towards SMS.
The reason is recency. Now, I cannot say for certain that Pogba’s recent scoring drought predicts that he won’t rebound into being a prolific scorer for Juventus, but the reality is that any rebound from Pogba can be matched by an increase in production from SMS. The Serbian international is entering his prime and only continuing to get better, whereas there is a chance that at 29, Pogba is exiting his best years.
Pogba has scored just one goal this season, whereas SMS has scored nine.
Advantage: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic