André Gomes has given a ‘yes’ to Juventus, but the Bianconeri are yet to agree a deal with Valencia.
According to Sky Sport, Juventus have made Gomes their main focus this summer and are pushing to complete a deal for the versatile midfielder.
The report suggests that Juve have an agreement with the player, but their proposal hasn’t entirely convinced Valencia.
The Spanish side are asking for at least €45-50 million while Juve are unwilling to go that high, offering closer to €30m + bonuses.
With Manchester United also interested in the player, Los Che may well be holding out for an improved offer from the Premier League side.
An alternative to Gomes may be found in the shape of Miralem Pjanic, however Beppe Marotta is reluctant to pay a hefty €38 million release clause that would need to be paid in full.
38M for Pjanic is a steal in my opinion. If we have to lose a couple of Pereyra/Hernanes/Caceres/Sturaro to Roma to make it happen then so be it.
Pjanic is good, but 38M is a little steep IMO. We haven’t been linked with Banega, but we can probably get him for much cheaper and he can be just as creative and versatile as Pjanic.
Already done deal to Inter, we ain’t getting Banega. Pjanic is better anyway.
Gomes wont come. Manu offers more. Thats it. Pjanic will also not come.
Somebody will come. Both not these two.
Is money the root temptation of all players? If not then Man U is not a great proposition at the minute. No CL football, really poor squad, and a manager who if stays for another season is going to achieve nothing significant with them again.
I’d say that we go for Pjanic instead of Gomes. I’m not quite sure which role Gomes is gonna have in midfield, but what I do know is that we need players that can improve the squad right now and not in a couple of years.
We keep bringing in players that are either young or old. Not anyone in between like Pjanic.
They’re 2 different kinds of players. Gomes will be brought in to replace/support Marchisio and/or Khedira. As we know, Claudio is out for 8 months and for him to get back in to full shape, probably not till early next year. Khedira is a class act, however he is prone to injury, Gomes would be ideal to make sure that position is always covered. Pjanic on the other hand is a play-maker, an attacking midfielder with an eye to break the toughest defenses.
In my mind Pjanic could be adjusted to a Pirlo role. Freekicks and opening defences from the back. That would be ideal. Marchisio has great offensive skills as we know from previous seasons, but he hasn’t showed that at all this year because of his position. No goals and only 1 or 2 assist. In my mind he is kinda wasted in that position.
The attacking midfielder should be somebody like Isco. Quick and with great skills on the ball. I know that Isco wont come, but if we could find someone like him that would be amazing.
Im with you on Isco, if I had a choice for one player between all these players linked to Juve, Id choose him. But as you mention, i doubt he will join. Yes I can see Pjanic in a Pirlo Position as well, but it wont solve our play-maker problem. Pjanic can fill that position. But ideally, Isco 🙂
We need to be able to get 4 defenders in the back especially in Europe against the high-scoring teams.
Eriksen would be ideal, yet would cost closer to 50m+ given Levy’s strong position and shrewd/dickish manner in transfer dealings. They have no need to sell, are in the champions league and have plenty of money. A shame…he is the second best young attacking midfielder in Europe I have seen this last season, alongside De Bruyne.
We will perhaps end up with Saponara, Berardi, Benatia and possibly a RB. Other than if Zaza or Morata head off, then we have some more fireworks up top. All of which leads to general improvement in the squad.
Berardi is a must. He needs to be shown faith now, otherwise we could risk losing him altogether. He has more potential than the other young Italians we have right now, along side Rugani.
Benatia should come in but only on loan. If we stick mainly with the 3-5-2, then 5 CBs are a must, and Benatia is proven quality but comes in at a time when he needs to confirm he belongs at a top top club like ours.
Ideally, we would get a CAM who also is able to play well at LW, just in case we switch from a 4-3-1-2 to a 4-3-2-1/4-3-3 with Berardi on the right of the front 3. Sanchez, Eriksen, Gotze, Ozil, Isco, etc. would fit the bill, but are all very unlikely to happen. Still though, I’d be a bit disappointed if we settled for Saponara. From what I’ve seen, he could do a decent job for any Serie A team, but doesn’t really improve us. As a CAM, I’d still rather have Pereyra.
Neto should be sold outright if he leaves, not loaned. With Mirante possibly coming in, we might be able to get a 10M net profit without losing anything from the starting XI.
With the RB situation though, if we don’t end up with immense quality in other positions, then we should at lest solidify this position. Vrsaljko/Danilo would be ideal, but I’d prefer the Sassuolo man. We deal with Sassuolo, and a few of our squad players can go there next season potentially. One or more of Sturaro, Asamoah, Pereyra, Hernanes could go there and sweeten the deals for Berardi and Vrsaljko, the two players we must get this summer mercato. They are squad players for us, but can be important for them (Peluso), especially considering how they have European football next season. Yea, I obviously don’t really rate Milan for the Coppa final.
Thanks for the response as always, ADP! You continue to offer sound and nourishing debate.
Though I am in contention on a couple of points (of course!).
Firstly Benatia. Who has injuries more than performances to blame for yet cementing his position as a resolute and top drawer defender for an elite club. It was not so long ago that many, even the majority of pundits and fans were talking of him as the finest in Italy hence his move to Munchen. DO we need him? Yes I suppose we do. And Beppe has a habit of picking out cheaper options of proven quality who may have fallen on hard times, their stock has fallen and then…well, just look at Tevez and Barzagli!
I am surprised of your high opinion of Pereyra, or perhaps your low opinion of Saponara. The Argentine was good last year, not one of the best, but when moved to a position behind the forwards, he worked very well in between the lines, yet his finishing was always poor, his passing rarely amazing, it was more a matter of his hard and cunning running finding the valuable link before the final move for a goal. From what I know of the italian, he is far more creative, far more expansive in his passing and has the eye for a brilliant pass. Finding steady success in a poor Empoli side is a good sign, and I would be happy to see him replace Pereyra whose form has been appalling since returning from injury and even when is form, is in my opinion, less potent at unlocking tight defences than the italian.
A 10m profit on Neto would be great, yet what if Buffon is injured for a lengthy period? Is Mirante good enough to step in and deputise? We were very fortunate to have Storari who was a top class back-up, ever dependable. Also a good character for the squad. Mirante may not be of the required calibre.
Although Marotta’s strategy pays off more often than not we have to remember that he has signed some absolute useless players as well in recent times. Namely Hernanes to mention the latest.
But when he splash the cash for quality players it pays off and is felt on the field. Look at Dybala and Alex Sandro this season. Big pricetags on those two but they deliver.
That’s the recipe.
Go out and buy 2-4 good players instead of 8 mediocre with potential to succeed. In my mind Khedira and Manzdukic was huges gambles. And they’ve paid off to an extent. Khedira has been exceptional (when he’s not injured). I do still wish that we replace Mandzukic with someone like Cavani.
Not sure how many of his performances you have seen this season, Marco? he has been one of our better performers in midfield since the turn of the year, fared very well against Bayern and has been, for me, much more impressive and useful than Lemina, Asamoah and Sturaro, so I wonder how you rate their seasons?
Barzagli, Pogba, Llorente, Pirlo, Khedira have all been signed for barely a penny with the Tevez deal an immense piece of business also Lichsteiner, Vidal. He has made this team alongside Fabio P…Hugely responsible for our run of success.
I watch every game, and I completely agree that he does well in the role. But one can’t deny that he has more to offer. I was really surprised to see that Allegri put Marchisio in the defensive role and Khedira in Vidal’s spot. I would’ve done it opposite, letting Marchisio forward, allowing him to participate in the attack as well.
When I say that he is wasted, I mean in the attacking part. He has great shooting and control on the ball in tight areas which I would say fit a more forward oriented role better.
Those players you mentioned have all been great for us – no doubt. And huge credit to Paratici and Marotta. But you can’t seriously believe that we can build a squad capable of competing with the likes of Bayern, Barcelona and Real Madrid solely on cheap/free transfers. Sometimes you just need to splash the cash to get improvements. Not all the time, but sometimes. And in my mind our team has not improved from last season. It might actually have gotten slightly worse. (And by slightly I mean SLIGHTLY). We have replaced the players we lost with players of similar quality and gotten some squad players in, in places needed.
The next step would be to build on top of that. Given that this season was a transitional phase after losing Vidal, Pirlo and Tevez, we now have a solid foundation to improve unlike last season (considering no key players leave).
I first and foremost want to see players that can knock some of our current players outta the starting XI. Not bench players like Gomes probably would be until Marchisio comes back. Gomes is welcome, but not as the main man of the transfer window (which his 30+M price easily could indicate)
Indeed, Marco, I have often wondered of the reluctance to deploy Sami in the anchorman role where I feel he would excel. What I have come to conclude is that the German has too much to offer in the final third to be wasted sitting in front of the defence. It was viable, to some degree with Pirlo, yet Andrea seemed to get only so far as before the 18 yard box, whereas Sami often finds himself the further man forward in attacks. Its that penetration with cunning and competency on the ball which is lost if he sits deep and central.
Hernanes was poor before late November -christmas, as were most the other players in the squad except Buffon and Dybala. Yes I believe he has more to offer and we have seen hints of it in 2016. Not quite a waste of money neither an obvious success. He has helped us win the league, he did as much as anyone in the first leg against Bayern to claw us back into contention and I would call his season average.
Marchisio is too often ghost like when asked to play box to box; for me he really came to prominence last season, in fact he was my player of the campaign. His best performances cam in the DM role.
Not in the slightest was I suggesting we could bridge the divide to the elite clubs by purchasing cheap and free signings. That is a jump of your own imagination, comrade!
Some of Vidal and some of Pirlo has been replaced by Khedira, yet his fitness has been a bother. Cuadrado added lighting pace which he had only in Morata last season who has been relatively poor this term. Dybala is as potent as Tevez with the potential to be a brighter star in the game. Sandro is a major improvement. Rugani is potentially a CB to become a rock at the back for club and country for years, so definite improvement for me.
i would suggest that we have improved the potential of the squad. And will continue to do so.
Di Sciglio, Benatia, Berardi, Saponara seems the minimum to expect. And it seems ever more likely that Morata is packing his bags which means 30m towards a new striker to replace him.
We dominated the league after a terrible run of injuries and form, the injuries have lasted all season! We also very extremely unlucky not to rightfully go through against one of the elite clubs, Bayern. A poor refereeing decision cost us dearly, as did the injuries. we have the coppa final this weekend. The U19 topped their group, reached the primavera final and won the viareggio. Clearly we do not need major change and are on the right path to glory.
Di Scigio is an upgrade on an always crippled Caceres. Benatia adds depth which is needed with a back three and only one present natural back-up. Berardi offers far more guile and shooting accuracy than Zaza. Saponara is more delicate on the ball and creative than Pereyra. All improve the side.
i would happily see players appear to offer more quality and potential than those they replace. The starting XI is already top drawer and clearly in a state of flux, mainly due to injuries.
All are solid points. And I can agree with you on most of it.
I do however still feel that the team has had little movement in the present day quality. The future definitely looks bright with the likes of Rugani, Lemina and Dybala, but compared to the quality of last season we’ve only really improved the potential as you say. And now with Cuadrado and Morata most likely leaving, we will need to sign someone better than them for the team to continue to improve and not get stuck in limbo like Roma for example is. They have half a dusin loanees that are likely to go back to their respective clubs, unless they have the option to make some of them permanent or find replacements of similar quality thus not improving in any immediate aspect even though they’ve spent money. And just like this we will have to go above and beyond to sign someone great to fill the gaps left by the departing players.
I felt like that is what we missed last year. To put it into perspective; we had 3 large buckets of water knocked over last season, and we just about managed to fill those buckets back up with new water. Now this year, without knocking any big buckets over, we will need to replace our current buckets with even bigger buckets that are already full – not bigger buckets that are just filled halfway. Thus improving the capacity and volume at the same time.
(what a stupid metaphor…)
Anyways, I think that we can do better than Saponara and De Sciglio. But consider this; if we lose Hernanes, Morata, Cuadrado, Cáceres, Neto and maybe Sturaro and Zaza. Will it then be enough to bring in the likes of Saponara, De Sciglio, Berardi? I think not. That will just once again put the balance back to zero. And with all these recurring injuries, I think that it is vital that we go out and at least try to get bigger and better players. Gomes, Saponara, De Sciglio are all mediocre, but with potential. Pjanic, Isco, Danilo, Götze, Cavani are solid players that we should take seriously.
You’re welcome TGP, and thanks again!
Benatia on the Marotta special of “Loan with an option to buy” suits the club best. If not Benatia, then a Serie A proven player like Acerbi will do, but there must surely be a limit to our raid of Sassuolo? Romagna as a final resort to get 5 CBs overall, and you know much more about him than I do, so you can correct me if necessary.
It’s a combination of a relatively high opinion of Pereyra and lower opinion of Saponara. Pereyra has been all-round totally poor this season, but there are many reasons for that. I’m inclined to keep him as the backup CAM/LW or next season based off of his performances in 2014/15, but absolutely not as a starter. One thing in favor of Pereyra is that he has played for Argentina, while Saponara has never been called up for Italy despite the Azzurri having a pretty ordinary attack and midfield at the moment. Conte’s opinion of him counts heavily for me. It’s one thing being Italian, which does give you added opportunities at Juve, but if your an Italian player without the necessary quality, your opportunities will be limited.
Lastly on Mirante, I feel like he will be good enough to be a backup and even start games if, God forbid, Gigi would be injured. I agree that we were extremely fortunate to have Storari, who was brilliant throughout his 5 years at the club. Mirante is the same age now as when Storari came though (33), and to be fair to him he has played far more games in Serie A than Storari had done, or probably still has done. He is a home-grown player, so that ticks another box. We were lucky in that Storari played so well in his time here, but I think the potential for Antonio Mirante to do something similar is also there.
Welcome thoughts as always, ADP.
It seems too much a stretch to have two youngsters as back-ups for the seasoned CBs. And so I doubt we will see Romagna in the ranks, yet definitely remember the name. He is a defender of great potential, experienced with the international set-up at youth level and the primavera captain.
I am glad you have some faith in Conte’s ability to spot talent, for I have very little and worry very much for La Nazionale at the EUROs.
It has been appalling, yet typical Conte, to sign for another club, even be studying his squad, working out transfers when he should be blinkered in his approach to Italy. Not Chelsea. I do not believe he had much say of transfers at Juve, other than yes or no to the players he was offered by Beppe and Fabio. It was also a matter of transfers which proved a major factor in his departure.
I do not think he is picking the best italian squad possible. With Veratti out, why has he not called Saponara? Is it lack of talent or poor judgement on Conte’s part? He is ignoring the italian with the highest amount of assists in Serie A…
I am grateful for his efforts at turning our fortunes around and he success which followed, but Conte left the club with less of my respect than when he arrived. An egomaniac whose tendency to roar and bare his fangs often injures those around him, who remains child like in his complete inability to accept responsibility for any failure.
Well, after using the azzurri job as a chance to tread water and keep involved in the game, he now has the position and spending power he has always believed he deserves and we shall see how he fares…Wouldn’t be a surprise to see him sacked by Christmas. I do not believe he has the intelligence, self restraint on tactical nous to succeed in england, let alone Europe.
Well this discussion has taken a completely different path to the one where it was intended to go, but that is almost always the case with any topic haha!
I will save my judgement of Conte for the end of this discussion, but I’d like for you to understand where I stand through the facts that I know.
Firstly, as we all know, we were not a successful club in Italy in the few years pre-Conte. I thought finishing 7th in 2009-10 was a complete anomaly and that we had hit rock bottom, a position from where we could only get up. The fact that it happened again the next season left me astounded. I remember one game in particular at home to Udinese, I believe in the 2010-11 season, where we were 1-0 up but there was always that feeling that we were not safe. As it happened, they came back to win 2-1, with Sanchez grabbing one of the goals. With Conte, that immediately changed. When he came in 2011, he immediately made us a far superior team mentally with only the addition of two key midfielders who we both know, and some decent Serie A strikers. That he took us from such a low point in our history to back to where we belong so quickly, I will never be able to speak ill of him. Regardless of the great work that Marotta and Paratici did with transfers, it was up to Conte alone to instil the grinta back into the players, which is a huge part of our history and is seen in spades even today. It’s not like there were no leaders in that squad, Buffon was still there, Chiellini and Marchisio, although much younger than they are now, were still there. They were not doing enough during those times, so that is why I credit Conte for it, and I feel like he helped make our current “leaders” the way they are today.
Even as a football manager alone, I believe he does have tactical nous, and I’ll try my best to explain why. He didn’t start off wanting to play a 3-5-2 at Juve when he first came, and for most of the 2011-12 season he played with a 4-3-3. Upon realizing that Bonucci needed more help and that Barzagli was too good not to be a starter, he switched to the 3-5-2. Even then, we didn’t have a LWB apart from De Ceglie (so basically we didn’t have a LWB), and he converted Asamoah from a CM to an effective LWB. He helped immensely with the introduction of Pogba to play a part in making him what he is today. With no disrespect towards the players I am about to mention, but to make average or above average players like Pepe, Quagliarella, Matri, Isla, Peluso, Padoin, Vucinic, Giaccherini etc into consecutive scudetto winners requires not just the ability to instil huge self-belief in all of them, but also to get the best out of them on the football pitch through tactical knowledge and knowing how they can contribute the most effectively.
A lot of people question his record in Europe, and say that we were poor under him in during his spell here, but I have to question that. In 2012-13, his first season in Europe as a manager, he took the team to the CL quarter-finals. I know its not a great comparison, but that’s better than we did this season. The team that thrashed us 4-0 over two legs was the team that went and thrashed Barcelona 7-0 over two legs. At the time, our squad was nowhere near Barca’s in terms of quality and depth, so I thought it was a respectable effort that season. In 2013-14, I agree we should have made it out of the group stages of the CL, and it is Conte’s fault that we were not able to secure progression earlier, but playing in the snowstorm in Turkey was an absolute farce, and luck did not go Conte’s way that day. It must be remembered that Allegri also only managed to scrape us through to the knockout stages last season, but from there he was brilliant. In the Europa League in 2013-14, Conte did well enough to get us to the semis, but a pretty bland showing, and his stubbornness to stick to a 3-5-2 is what cost us in the end. So overall, I would say he was not as terrible in Europe as many make him out to be.
Now onto his one huge negative; his departure. I must admit, when I first read the news in the summer of 2014 of his departure, I was shocked. When details as to why he left came out, I was upset, but that was also due to us getting Allegri as a replacement (forgive me Max). In short time though, I realized that there is no point being upset with him. He did a great job while he was here, but he left for no good reason. What Marotta and Paratici do so well is acknowledge that when someone doesn’t want to be with us any more, there is no point keeping him. It’s their life so they can do what they want, but they must remember, this club will always be bigger than them. A similar thing happened last summer with Vidal, and I pray nothing like that happens again this summer (looking at you Alvaro). To summarize my opinion of Conte now is this:
I have no opinion of him.
He did an admirable job and made Juve fans happy when he was here, but he left us for no discernible reason. I wish him no success at Chelsea, but also no failure. As long as he has nothing to do with us, then I don’t care about him. Tevez, Llorente, and Pirlo all left us but they did with class and had a proper reason to go, that’s why they are still respected. No respect and good wishes for Vidal and Conte, but no need to hate either.
Just for fun though, I will tell you my prediction of Conte at Chelsea. I think he’ll win the Premier League next year, I honestly do. From the limited knowledge that I have of the PL, I think Chelsea only blew it this season because they had thought they’d already won the damn thing before the season started. There is no way in hell those players will have that attitude when Conte learns and understands English. I also think that the best defensive unit in the PL will win the competition, and Conte can make that happen at Chelsea. The key thing though is that they have no European commitments next season, which means that Conte can be his usual over-aggressive self and his players might be able to last long enough to win the title, then burn out over the summer. In his 2nd season though, I think he is at a huge risk of failure. If he doesn’t adjust his ways and be more relaxed but still strict with his players like Max does so well for us, then he will do poorly in one or more of the competitions that Chelsea compete in. My guess is that by March 2018, Abrahamovich will be fed up with him, and that he will sign a contract with the Azzurri to take over at the world cup in Russia 3 months time while finishing the season with Chelsea! Hehehehe 🙂
Damn, I can’t believe I wrote this much.
Send a salute to thegutterpoet@live.com, comrade…
ADp! Brilliant work. I would like to offer my own response and if you are willing, combine the two into a discussion for a new editorial. No need to publish now, but during the Summer when we are in need of a story or three. I shall return later this evening to offer my own stance.
Thank you my friend. I am more than willing to join you in any editorials that you write! It seems that more than the club itself, I love writing about the club haha. I have a few months off ahead before my university studies begin again so if you need anything during that time then I’ll offer what I can.
Oh man I still remember that undescribable anger when it was made official that Allegri would be the new manager.
I honestly thought Marotta & Co turned insane.
I was so wrong
Do you think Saponara would be much of an upgrade over a healthy Pereyra?
Very much so, Jack. He is far more creative, of greater ability with the ball at his feet, perhaps less fleet-footed yet I believe he could blossom on a decent side. Though I see little news of the story reigniting. Which is a shame of sorts, as he knows the league, is well known by the manager and a good age, decent price, and Empoli would perhaps take some of our unwanted players more easily than we will sell them outright elsewhere.
I hope you are right, Gutter. Pereyra was really good until his knee injury at the beginning of the season. Judging by the way he played upon his return, I too am doubtful Pereyra can find a place in this team. Saponara, being young and Italian, may be a good fit in the long run.
Pay 30mil + Zaza for Gomes & pay the 38mill Pjanic release clause. We would still need to secure Morata, a right back & Central defender. Not sure who Juve will be trying to sign for the Right Back?
1. Vrsaljko
2. De Sciglio
3. Use Lirola who just signed a contract for the senior team.
Plus I dont think we have the money to buy both Pjanic and Gomes
With Morata being on the way out, Gomes could fill the role of a speedy and skilled attacking player. €30-35m + bonuses is a good offer.
I may be mistake, Jack…but Gomes seems a midfielder, whose main assets are ball control, dribbling and creativity, far removed from speed merchant wide roaming front-man like Morata. I believe we were even pondering how Gomes, if signed could sit in the regista/anchorman role deep, in front of the defence, during the absence of Marchisio, his versatility adding to his appeal.
True, Gomes is a midfielder, but he seems versatile and he has played as part of a front 3. It would indeed make sense to have him in Marchisio’s role at first and deploy him as needed once Marchisio returns.