With Igor Tudor’s revamp yet to take shape, his only signing so far has been free agent Jonathan David, the Bianconeri are struggling to prepare for a genuine assault on Serie A.
Prolific scorer David was the club’s back-up plan after priority striker target Viktor Gyokeres, who could yet arrive in Turin on a loan as his transfer saga to Arsenal or even Manchester United continues.
Dusan Vlahovic was initially praised by Tudor when he joined as interim head coach, but has fallen out of favor at Juventus ever since the 47-year-old Croatian was appointed on a permanent basis.
Vlahovic has constantly turned down lucrative moves to both the Saudi Pro League and the Turkish Super Lig, digging in his heels to collect big bucks from being the highest-paid player at Juve.
There’s been interest from potential suitors Arsenal and Manchester United if they fail to land Gyokeres, and Juve are now hopeful of using Vlahovic as part of a deal with United to land either Marcus Rashford or Jadon Sancho.
Sancho deal slipping away
Cash-strapped Juventus do not appear to be on the same page about Sancho’s value, which could scupper the deal and allow the England international to move to Juve’s rivals Napoli instead.
Rashford has a price tag of €46 million (US$54m), which is almost double the value of Sancho.
Juve previously showed interest in bringing the former England ace to Turin, and had discussions about a short-term loan with his agents in January. The 27-year-old attempted to rebuild his career with a short stint at Aston Villa, but is scrambling around to find a new club.
Yet to bring in Rashford would appear to be both foolhardy and out of reach as his weekly United salary is a staggering €346,000 (US$405,000). To match that would propel him to become the highest-paid Serie A, and overtake Vlahovic’s extraordinary annual wage of €12 million (US$14m).
Juve’s marquee signing David, the New York-born Canada international, who has been a goal machine wherever he has played for club and country, seems like a bargain as he will earn €6m (US$7m) per season according to Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport.
Rashford's not a reality for Juve
As the Bianconeri are eager to cash in on Vlahovic, whose contract expires in June, and dramatically trim their wage bill then Rashford seems a highly improbable signing even if a swap deal is involved..
AC Milan and Inter Milan have shown serious interest in Vlahovic, who has finished as Juve’s top scorer each season since arriving in early 2022. Yet they cannot offer him a salary anywhere close to current earnings
The Serbia striker wants to compete at next year’s FIFA World Cup finals, so sitting out his contract on the bench or even being omitted from match day squads for Juventus is out of the question.
Massive severance pay demands
There’s been speculation in the Italian sports press that he would accept a severance pay, but the figure touted is virtually the same as his annual salary. It seems almost impossible to imagine that this is acceptable to recently installed Juventus general manager Damien Comolli.
The club tried to smooth things over, even offering a contract extension on a reduced salary, but this was rebuffed by Vlahovic’s agent Darko Ristic.
Yet English press have recently reported that Vlahovic is willing to take a dramatic pay cut if he means he could switch to the Premier League this summer. As well as Arsenal and United, the trio of Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest are ready to pounce.
Ristic refusal for Juve meeting
Ristic allegedly refused to fly to Turin for showdown talks today with Comolli to figure out a solution, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The professional relationship between Vlahovic and the Turin titans has dramatically soured since their indifferent Club World Cup campaign, where he was hardly used by Tudor but still managed to score twice.
Meetings have been scheduled with interested Premier League clubs next week, leaving Vlahovic’s future a conundrum until Ristic can seal a deal for his client with either Spanish giants Villarreal or an English top tier team.