While Serbia striker Vlahovic chews over where to potentially ply his trade next season, the Bianconeri are weighing up a bid for Viktor Gyokeres.
Vlahovic may well see out his final year of his lucrative contract at Juve, as the salary is superior to joining AC Milan or Turkish Super Lig outfit Fenerbahce. Should the 25-year-old hot-shot depart Turin, the top choice to replace him is Sweden international Gyokeres.
Gyokeres has been a goal-scoring machine at Sporting Lisbon since leaving the shores of England, with over a century of goals in his two seasons for the Portuguese giants.
Hefty price tag
No wonder Juventus and a clutch of top Premier League clubs have been consistently linked to the 27-year-old, despite the high price tag of €100 million (US$115.8m).
The former Brighton & Hove Albion, Swansea City and Coventry City player has been a revelation in Portugal as an energetic and physical center forward.
He bagged 29 goals in 33 Primeira Liga games during his impressive debut season, finishing with both the Golden Boot accolade and a league winner’s medal. Last term he scored 54 goals in 52 matches, 19 from the penalty spot, with 39 league strikes.
Goal hungry Gyokeres remains a wanted man, despite having never competed in one of Europe’s top five leagues, for his formidable prowess in front of goal.
Premier League interest
Juventus currently lead the queue to land his signature, while Arsenal and Manchester United have also recently been touted. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur previously showed keen interest.
Juventus will need to start ramming in goals in their next Serie A campaign if they are to stand any chance of capturing the Scudetto. Teams that finish a season with goals spread throughout the side frequently miss out on silverware.
Gyokeres potentially fits the bill at Juventus if Vlahovic departs and needs replacing with another natural centre forward, especially as he is exceptional at providing goal assists.
The Swedish star offers physicality and explosiveness in front of goal. He savours receiving the ball in the box under pressure and using his body to protect possession, either by making quick changes of direction or by seizing defensive errors.
Curving runs
What sets him apart in the Portuguese top tier, and he also displayed when notching a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City last term, is his ability to constantly make curving runs to create opportunities.
This brilliant approach frequently results in the defence ending up disjointed, which helps the marksmen to easily find the back of the net from a variety of areas.
It seems that Gyokeres would have little problem adapting to the top flight in Italy, as his style of play suits the rigors of Serie A.
Juventus, who employed high pressing and possession-based tactics last season, will no doubt wish to focus on creative skills from individuals when they tackle the 2025/26 Serie A campaign. They are defensively stable, despite bringing in Premier League misfits during the winter transfer window.
Next season they must start scoring from set-pieces, which was part of their weakness under both Thiago Motta and Igor Tudor. Juventus would greatly benefit from bringing in Gyokeres, as he thrives on crosses into the box and tends to sit on the blind side of defenders.
Supporting role
The sheer pace and acceleration of Gyokeres also means that he is a perfect target man, which has been a resounding success at Sporting.
Yet Gyokeres has shown that he’s much more than a goal-getter by supporting his team-mates with cut backs and squaring the ball to create scoring opportunities.
Being so heavily reliant on the flanks, and rarely sending the ball into the centre for a physical striker like Vlahovic and Paris Saint-Germain loanee Kolo Muani, seems to be one of the main reasons that Juventus underwhelmed last season.
Any deal to bring in 27-year-old Gyokeres would prove costly, with Coventry City set to receive 10% of any profit that Sporting make. This would appear to be a bargain price if his move could help Juve become more free-flowing to secure their first Scudetto crown since the 2019/20 campaign under Maurizio Sarri.