With so much speculation about numerous Europe giants chasing proven center-forwards at extremely expensive prices, prudent Juventus have also turned their attention to cut-price goalscorers.
Sassuolo veteran Domenico Berardi and Udinese’s 24-year-old Lorenzo Lucca are among those under serious consideration at the Bianconeri.
With the Netherlands U21 international Emmanuel Emegha the latest marksman to be added to Juve’s summer wishlist.
The club are continuing to pursue some of Europe’s goal-getting players, which includes a three-club battel between Arsenal, Juventus and Manchester United for Sporting Lisbon hot-shot Viktor Gyokeres.
Juve are currently in the United States for the cash-rich 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, and will kick-off their group games against Al-Ain FC.
Many players that could leave this summer, such as Dusan Vlahovic, and have been presented with the perfect stage to showcase their skills to potential suitors at the lucrative 32-club tournament.
Juventus boss Igor Tudor also has the opportunity to run his eye over potential recruits during the competition, plus potentially giving fringe players a shot at impressing him.
Summer sales
Scoring goals is imperative for next season, with Tudor needing to plug the game if Vlahovic and Samuel Mbangula are sold plus other attackers are loaned out.
Emegha ticks the boxes for Juve. Standing 1.95m tall he is an easy target man, which has attracted the club as a secondary striker given his price tag of only €25 million (US$28.8m).
The 22-year-old has just enjoyed his breakthrough season by bagging 14 goals from 27 Ligue 1 appearances. His prolific campaign helped steer Strasbourg to seventh in the French top tier, which was enough to qualify for the Conference League.
If Strasbourg are willing to cash in on their tall talisman, they stand to make a healthy profit. Emegha signed on a four-year deal from Austrian outfit Sturm Graz for €12m (US$13.8m) in July 2023.
Chelsea barrier
There is a potential obstacle for the Turin titans, with Chelsea also keen to snap up Emegha. The Premier League outfit want the center-forward to join them for the 2026/27 Premier League campaign.
If Chelsea beat Juve to Emegha, the club are expected to offer a six-year contract and send Emegha on a season-long loan to Strasbourg before bringing him to London next summer.
Chelsea and Strasbourg are both owned by BlueCo, which should give the Premier League the edge over Juventus in the competition to sign Emegha.
It remains to be seen whether Emegha can repeat his scoring feats next term, although that largely depends on whether he is turning out for Chelsea, Juventus or Strasbourg.