With a summer revamp promised by the Bianconeri’s head coach Igor Tudor yet to materialize, the club constantly hit the rumor mills about expensive reinforcements.
It's been a slow transfer window so far, with Tudor following in the footsteps of former Juventus boss Thiago Motta by trying to offload a plethora of players.
There’s a lengthy list of Juve players on the transfer list. As the Turin titans do not have big bucks to play with, clubs interested in acquiring their outcasts can potentially take advantage with lower bids.
Bringing in reinforcements in various positions should be a priority for Juventus, especially considering their labored FIFA Club World Cup campaign.
Although Juventus have continued to look defensively frail throughout Tudor’s tenure, their inability to create goal-scoring chances has been all too apparent.
The dynamic displays from Francisco Conceicao and Kenan Yildiz down the flanks needs some tweaking, with a much more combative midfielder required to add some bite.
Denmark international Morten Hjulmand is reported in some Italian media to have agreed personal terms with Juve, and would bring intensity to the middle of the pitch.
The only obstacle is that the Sporting Lisbon captain has a hefty release clause of €80 million (US$93m), with Juventus only willing to pay half of that amount.
Sporting overprice Hjulmand
Sporting notoriously have high prices for their players, although the Liga Portugal champions would surely accept a figure around €60m (US$69.7m) this summer.
The 26-year-old is also on the radar of the two Manchester giants — City and United — as well as Barcelona, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur.
Pep Guardiola’s City came up short in their unsuccessful defense of the Club World Cup, with Hjulmand an ideal like-for-like replacement for Kevin De Bruyne who recently left for Napoli.
Hjulmand was a big hit at Sporting under Ruben Amorim, and could be lured into a reunion with his former manager who is now at United.
Spurs’ head coach Thomas Frank is Danish. Yet Hjulmand is such an avid fan of Arsenal that he sports a tattoo with the club's crest, which could potentially upset Tottenham supporters.
Barcelona are jam-packed with talent and, like Juventus, are currently suffering financial constraints.
While new Inter boss Cristian Chivu is preparing to implement a new form of attack at last year’s Serie A runners up, he is eager to add more creative players that would complement his 3-5-2 tactical approach.
Costa part swap deal
Hjulmand, who joined Sporting from Lecce for €19.5m (US$22.7m) two years ago, is open to returning to Italy. His pre-agreement with Juventus could be leveraged by the Bianconeri offering defender Alberto Costa in a part swap deal.
The Liga Portugal champions have been quoted a market price of €20 million (US$23.2m) for former U20 Portugal right-back Costa.
Costa kicked off Thiago Motta’s winter transfer business last January, signing from Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes for €12.5 million (US$14.5m).
He was anticipated to slug it out with Nicolo Savona for a starting berth. The 21-year-old fell down the pecking order, and was even omitted from Juve’s Champions League squad in February.
Costa finished the season with just nine Serie A appearances, his first six games were as a second-half substitute.
Hjulmand’s ability to disrupt attacks by intercepting passes and fearlessly making tackles, on top of creating scoring chances could be just the ticket for Tudor if he can secure his signature.
The harsh reality is that Juventus simply do not have the cash to splash on one player this summer. Not even if they manage to offload some of their top earners, such as midfielder Douglas Luiz and striker Dusan Vlahovic.
Although the willingness from Hjulmand to join the Serie A heavyweights on a reasonably modest salary is attractive, big spenders are more likely to land the great Dane and leave Juve lagging behind.