Matt O’Riley has been on Juve’s radar for sometime, and came close to signing for by the then head coach Thiago Motta only for the club to prefer Teun Koopmeiners.
The Denmark international has been linked with five clubs, including Juventus, but has claimed that he wishes to fight for his place at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler started O’Riley for the club’s opening Premier League game of the season against Fulham, where he kicked off his career in their Youth Academy. The 24-year-old slotted home a spot-kick in Saturday’s 1-1 stalemate.
O’Riley claimed during a press conference: “I’m very happy here, I’m having fun. I did go to Fabian in pre-season to reiterate that I am here as a Brighton player to help the team as much as possible.”
After a move to Juventus failed to materialize last summer, O'Riley moved to Brighton from Celtic, where he regularly scored and set up goals at Celtic.
He was surprisingly underused at Brighton last term, and was available either as a straight purchase or on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy for €30 million (US$35m).
O'Riley remains a priority for Juventus
O'Riley greatly interests Juve head coach Igor Tudor, and is being considered as an alternative to bringing in Sporting Lisbon skipper Morten Hjulmand as Juventus continue to negotiate a transfer fee.
Former Juventus managers Max Allegri (AC Milan) and Antonio Conte (Napoli) are keeping tabs on O'Riley, alongside Atalanta boss Ivan Juric and Olympique Marseille chief Roberto De Zerbi.
Cash-strapped Juve must first sell a midfielder before they could swoop for O’Riley, with Luiz on the brink of joining Nottingham Forest, and have presented a draft contract to O’Riley’s agents.