The Bianconeri have stuttered their way towards kicking off their Serie A campaign as serious title contenders.
This is down to a lack of transfer activity. There’s been so many players up for grabs from the Turin titans, but little serious interest. While head coach Igor Tudor has been unable to land those on his summer wishlist, apart from a handful of newcomers on the cheap.
Al-Ahli FC manager Matthias Jaissle is desperately chasing a defensive midfielder to strengthen his squad, and singled out two players that would help bolster the coffers at Juventus.
Juve’s Manuel Locatelli has been identified as top priority for the 2024/25 AFC Champions League Elite winners, with former Juventus flop Denis Zakaria as a back-up plan.
Juventus cannot afford a lightweight midfield
Al-Ahli’s €25 million (US$29.1m) bid for Locatelli has been rejected, because Tudor does not wish to entertain losing the 27-year-old Italian international. Especially as midfielder Douglas Luiz is finally on the brink of joining Nottingham Forest.
An improved offer is anticipated for Locatelli, as AS Monaco would demand almost twice that figure to sell their 28-year-old Switzerland star Zakaria.
Yet a transfer for either player could not currently be completed until Al-Ahli offload one of their non-Asian players over the age of 23. They have already reached their quota with Mehri Demiral, Galeno, Roger Ibanez, Franck Kessie, Riyad Mahrez, Edouard Mendy, Enzo Millot and Ivan Toney.
Versatile Locatelli, whose playing style has frequently been compared to Juventus icon Andrea Pirlo, switched from Sassuolo to the Turin giants in August 2021. His arrival increased the number of Euro 2020 champions at Juve to five, linking up with Italy team-mates Federico Bernardeschi, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Federico Chiesa.
Locatelli has attracted major clubs
Locatelli, who can operate box-to-box, has impressed at Juventus and soon earned admirers. He has been on the radar of top Premier League clubs including Arsenal and Manchester City, as well as Olympique Marseille where his former Sassuolo boss Roberto De Zerbi is manager.
Al-Ahli are lining up Zakaria as an alternative to Locatelli. Zakaria scored on his Serie A debut for Juventus in February 2021, in the 2-0 win over Hellas Verona, but failed to bag another top tier goal in 10 more matches sporting a Juve jersey.
He was sent on loan to Chelsea, where he repeated the feat of finding the back of the net on his debut by bagging the winner in the 2-1 Champions League success over Dinamo Zagreb in November 2022.
Zakaria moved to Ligue 1 Monaco on a five-year contract in August 2023, with Juventus inserting a sell-on clause. This means that the Serie A side could soon collect some much-needed monies should Locatelli or Zakaria be lured to the Saudi Pro League by a lucrative contract.