Juventus are on the verge of completing transfer deals for both Juan Cuadrado and Axel Witsel.
Sky Sport Italia and a number of Italian media outlets report that deals have been complete for both players as deadline day looms large.
Witsel has reportedly left the Belgian camp to fly to Turin to complete a medical tomorrow. Belgian website RTBF.be claim that the player has agreed personal terms with the Bianconeri and Zenit have agreed to Juve’s offer.
Sky Sport Italia suggest the transfer fee is €18m, plus €3m in various performance-related bonuses.
It’ll be a busy day at the J-Medical centre as Juan Cuadrado is also believed to have completed his long-touted return to Turin.
Mediaset, Sky Sport Italia and CdS all report that Juventus have finally worked out a deal which will see the Colombian return to Turin on loan with an obligation to purchase.
Cuadrado was reported to have told Chelsea boss Antonio Conte that he has no desire to remain in London and was actively pursued a return to Juventus this summer.
The winger is set to join Juventus on a €5m loan deal with option to buy for €20m. The option will become an obligation to purchase, if Cuadrado makes a set amount of appearances for Juve.
I love it. Don Beppe
Excited about these deals, plus the several we had in the mercato, completely excited!
Cuadrado a Juventino <3
Beppe has reached God Level…
Make it two afros counting Cuadrado now, since Pogba is gone let a new hairstyle contest begin.
Good news! It was a long time that everybody knew that Pogba is leaving, and Beppe Marotta probably before everybody knew it! The team should be complete by now and Allegri should have time to find the correct formations for the benefit of Juve!
And there goes the best Juve mercato I´ve seen in my lifetime. thank God.
Marotta + Fabio delivered the cake, and also the cherry on top. This mercato definitely scores 9 at a minimum. The dynamic duo made up for Pogba´s departure, for Morata´s fiasco while thoroughly deepening and strengthening the squad. Now lets go for a 6th straight scudetto and above all for UCL
¡Marotta/Paratici for President!
Forgot to mention that Juventus signed a Swedish player for the Primavera today.
Here are some words from his agent: Swedish U18 National team player Mattias Andersson just signed a 3 year deal with Italian giants Juventus. Mattias is going to be part of Juventus Primavera but he will train with the first team a couple of times every week. Here with Juventus youth sport director and ex Juventus player Gianluca Pessotto. Good luck Mattias.
Here is a link so you can see his picture with him, his agent and the youth sport director. The text is in Swedish but you can take a look at the picture: https://www.fotbolltransfers.com/site/news/68538
Indeed he is the icing on the cake for the youth report I began last night and will try to finish over the coming days…Not sure about sending Blanco in exchange, for he has looked strong and capable, and scored that wonderful goal here in Melbourne! yet Mattias seems interesting…debuted with the Malmo senior side aged just 15, represented his country at U17 and U19 level.
I am always searching for news and knowledge about this glorious game and club. But I must say I am very impressed with the insight you have at the club. Are you in some way involved directly to the club or do you get your news from elsewhere?
Especially when it comes to the youth sector. Seems like you know about most of the players and not just that. You seem to know about their pros and cons. Impressive =)
I’m thrilled about Cuadrado’s return but less sure about Witsel. Cuadrado is a difference maker every game and Marotta/Paratici/Allegri know that.
As for Witzel, what can he do that Lemina can’t? If nothing, then we have unnecessarily overloaded our central midfield position. We already have Marchisio, Pjanic and Lemina (and God forbid, Hernanes) ready to play that role. In any case, I have faith in Agnelli/Marotta/Paratici/Allegri.
“What can he do that Lemina cant?”
Assert a physical presence…
We actually dont have another midfielder who can do that.
Lemina and Sturaro are still players in progress. My thoughts are theyre for the future when Marchisio and Khedira start to slow down. And at this rate, i can see us signing Veratti when Prinicpino is near his retirement.
I thought what Lemina lacked was the ability to make decent passes forward. He’ll hopefully get better with age given he is only 22. I am not convinced Juve really needed Witsel especially with all the players we expect to get back.
I’m more than a little surprise to find anyone suggesting that Juan makes a difference in every game. He had a decent season, yet looked as often feckless and a one trick pony as he did valuable. His pace, I very much agree, is a welcome weapon, for that has been diminished with Morata’s departure, only replenished partially by Pjaca.
What can Lemina actually do well? The odd pass with the outside of his boot or half decent shot from range. He passes sideways more than forward, has little natural positioning intelligence and is so far appearing a functional DM at best. Witsel is a very different kind of player and has played a variety of roles at a variety of clubs at all of whom he has been a success and major asset. I would personally assert that even Hernanes is a stronger option in the DM role than Lemina…
I can muster no excitement at all for Lemina! Just a squad member, making up numbers. Not good enough for a Juventus starting 11 imo.
I wonder if Joe Hart does well at Torino he may move across town next season? Thoughts GP?
You and I can’t seem to agree on Cuadrado, Gutter. We obviously see the game very differently. I agree he relies on pace and trickery, so his effectiveness will decrease with age. But, he is still one of the most effective offensive weapons we have, especially late in games when the opposition is tired.
Considering they are targeting a trophy in every competition, we need depth in every department. There’s going to be many games, many chances for everyone to play. I expect Witsel to be our main backup when someone is missing from the midfield.
Back-up? If signed, he is the most obvious option to replace Pogba in the 3-5-2 in the CML role, for his characteristics are unsurprisingly similar. He is extremely strong on the ball, uses his body very well to win and shield, likes to drive forward and whilst not offensively as explosive or pacy, his defensive zeal is far superior to that of the frenchman.
It seems logical for us to transition to a 4-3-3 with the players brought in, yet even in the 3-5-2 I would be a lot happier to see Witsel and Khedira either side of Pjanic than Asamoah or Lemina. If Witsel comes, he is not coming for the bench.
Well “backup” as in he will probably play until Marchisio comes back, also when Khedira picks up something. I was thinking generally, when otherwise Allegri would have been left with a choice between Sturaro, Lemina, Asamoah, now he’ll just pick Witsel.
Really? Its the other way around for me. Witsel is far better than Cuadrado. In what way is Juan a difference maker? Yes he has speed, but thats all there is to say about him. Not excited at all.
You’re obviously biased. 😛
Well no, I just dont think Cuadrado is any good for us 😛
Not specifically a Witsel fan but it is nice to see a Belgian at Juve, I’ll give you that 😛
I honestly don’t know how to convince you and Gutter that Cuadrado is a good player. For me, it is so obvious it doesn’t need to be proven. But, if you need proof, watching a few highlights and looking at his stats should objectively show his value.
I know it wouldn’t make too much sense to compare Cuadrado to Witsel since they play different roles, but Cuadrado is much more impressive if you look at the stats.
I am not much a fan of stats and prefer to base my opinion on what I have seen with my own eyes. Comparing Witsel with Cuadrado is comparing two very different kind of players.
I do not think I have mentioned that I find Cuadrado a wretched player…I am well aware of the value of his pace and acceleration. Defenders hate to face players faster then them. He draws defenders out of position and keeps opposing players on his flank occupied. His shooting is very poor, and his final ball is more miss than hit. His ‘flair’ is often fluff, nothing more. it is very rare for him to beat players with anything other than pace. Yes, he helps our cause, but is no world beater. I am happy to have his pace as an extra weapon and he is well liked by the team and manager. A valuable squad player.
Witsel on the other hand…His game appears far more expansive. He has proven a manager’s favourite in three different european leagues as well as the same for his national side. he has played box to box, attacking and deep lying in the midfield positions. He is very strong, tall and highly capable of using his physical attributes to steal the ball and protect the ball. Far from fleet footed, his distribution is sound and intelligent. In short, he brings a lot more to the field than Cuadrado. Axel has won titles everywhere he has played.
I do not need to watch highlights. I watched every game of Juve last season and so have a solid idea of Cuadrado in our colours.
For better or worse, stats give us a relatively objective view of a player’s production. Sure there are a lot of intangibles they don’t capture, but I trust them a lot more than people’s subjective opinion including those I respect like yours.
I don’t know much about Witsel beyond his stats, the few YouTube highlights and his games for Belgium. Based on that, I don’t see him as being a big upgrade over Lemina.
In the end, we all want what’s best for Juve. Maybe getting Witsel for free next summer or for a low fee in the winter transfer period isn’t so bad for Juve.
In some case, Jack, yet in others they are very deceptive indeed, unless you dig deeper…As an example – Lemina made 53 passes against Lazio, with 85% accuracy. Seems a good outing for the lad, yet when you look at where he played those passes the picture changes, it becomes more accurate and you begin to wonder, what the devil is afoot here eh???That bastard was playing the crab, the vast majority of his passes moving left and right, not forwards…Again you will need to then see where the front men were to try make sense of the DM’s lateral fetish. Plenty of reasons why stats are useful but plenty of reasons as to why they are often very deceiving.
And thats why stats should always be taken with a grain of salt.
I also completely agree on Lemina, I was not impressed by what I saw in the Fiore game. Missed the Lazio match myself so cant say much about his performance there
Stats and highlights dont make a player. I can make Padoin look like a world beater with that. Much like gutter wrote below, I trust in what I see myself.
All Cuadrado offers is speed. His defending is woefully absent, his crossing is awful, he doesnt beat defenders in 1v1’s and he is far too easy nullified by world class defenders.
Sure he is faster than anyone else in the squad, but so what honestly? It doesnt produce anything. Watch him lose the ball over and over again next time he plays
Paratici/ Marotta!!
I am holding fire, until these moves are made official for they seem to address exactly what we need; namely –
A physically powerful, very tidy on the ball defensive midfielder who can affect and dictate the tempo of a game from deep whilst performing the dirty work of screening the defence.
The acceleration and pace to get behind defences and stretch them to create space for others.
If both go through…we are assuredly in the strongest position squad wise than since those dark days of post 2006. Allegri will have his work cut out, but on paper, we will look superb in every area of the field.
Happy for Witsel, not so much for Cuadrado. Not worth the money and not worth pushing out Lichtsteiner for him
That is the only dark cloud in the skies presently. I am very much against allowing Stephan to depart, for it will leave us with just one recognised RB, who is not at all yet adjusted to our system or italian football. Alves may be more flashy and productive going forward, but the Swiss locomotive has never been awful in the final third, has a phenomenal engine and is defensively sound as a pound. I hope he stays and takes up the option of an extra year, and that position may well be what is driving the move away. For he may have refused to sign an extension, and if we do not sell him now, we could stand to lose maybe 10m+. Which becomes more bothersome if we are unlikely to use him regularly, which in turn makes the player less likely to sign on…
Yet why would we have let Lirola go if we had plans to sell Lichsteiner, with no other RB in sight? Just Alves or…Cuadrado who cannot defend, whose only defensive value is that he has to be kept tightly covered, which lessens the forward foraging of wingers and wingbacks on his flank.
Regardless he has been a mainstay from the beginning of our return to glory and deserves to be treated with respect.
Added a little bit to the original comment, but that is indeed bothersome. Much rather keep the Superswiss
I agree, mate, on all counts. Cuadrado is no wingback. Its dizzying to ponder our formation if we are to include potentially the finest talents in the squad.
Pjaca seems likely to prove too special a talent not to play, in the long run. Pjanic, Witsel, Higuain, Khedira, Dybala all must play, perhaps Cuadrado also…
Id be keen on seeing us roll the dice with an ultra offensive –
Buffon
Alves Barzagli Bonucci Sandro
Khedira Witsel
Cuadrado Pjanic Dybala
Higuain
We are going to have to sacrifice one of the BBC if we are to make the most out of our new attacking talent.
Well, as much as leaving all these attacking talent on bench is painful, leaving the defensive options, including Barzagli, Benatia and Rugani is too!
Interesting to see you choose to leave out Chiellini of the BBC trio, usually its Barzagli who I see dropped. What is your reasoning for choosing Bonny and Barzagli? Plus I still have a little doubt about Bonucci in a 4-man defense, not sure if deservedly so. He shines in a 3man defense and I wonder if he is just as good in a 4man defense!
Anyway, the selection is obviously not likely to ever be used, since it is so very offensive.
And defense has always been our backbone, as you of course know already
Great moves on management’s part! I am a fan of Witsel and he is a huge upgrade over Hernanes, Peryera, Asamoah. Granted if he hits his stride I can see him being superior to Marchisio as well. People forget that before he went to Russia, he was one of the most revered prospects in all of fotbal. Even in Zenit he has done great work, I just don’t know why he went to Russia to begin with, perhaps the lure of money? cheap vodka? russian women are easier? One can only contemplate my friends. Cuadrado move I’m not too thrilled about, I’ve never been a huge fan of his. In terms of contribution, no one can deny what he brings offensively, the issue remains the other end of the pitch. Cuadrdo isn’t band defensively he is usually non existent. Given that we have Pjaca and Pjanic I dont think he will start all that much and I’d be surprised if they actually trigger his clause. Lichesteiners departure is imminent folks, I don’t think we should keep him on the bench just because he is willing to switch over to a rival. Stephen has been an example on and off the field! I think he deserves allot of respect even how he is carrying himself right now. It would be out of our character if we don’t let him leave, thats not the Juve I support.
My only complaint is the one I usually bring up about domestic players. Hopefully there will be at least one youngster in the mix. I was hoping Romagna but it looks like he was loaned out to Serie B.
No one is or will ever be superior to Marchisio :p but really, he only gets better with age so is dont see it happening :p
Also, i see russia as a quality league. I feel it superior to the french and possbly the portuegese league. Plus the obvious factor is money AND woman do out number men 10 to 1 over there from what i know so yea, maybe that too :p
I AM BEGINNING TO THINK THAT JUVENTUS ARE SIGNING PLAYERS BASED ON HAIR STYLES…..I MEAN LOOK AT CUADRADO AND WITSEL