Juventus seem very active in the transfer market trying to find a quality right winger. An obvious move, since the 4-3-3 will certainly be more used next season and probably will be the first option in Europe and, when we deployed it last year, Marchisio played in that position.
However, the 3-5-2 is not going anywhere, that’s why Juventus need a player that can fit in both tactics. Bringing Domenico Berardi would have been a wise move, but something went wrong in the negotiation, between Sassuolo’s request and the player’s will, so Juventus chose to do the easiest thing. It’s a mistake in my opinion, the kid is more than ready for the big stage, but I guess we’ll just have to deal with it now.
There is no shortage of quality wingers in the transfer market and Juventus are targeting very good players. I’m generally not optimistic about Juventus’ chances of landing a top-tier talent in normal circumstances (meaning that the player’s contract is not expiring soon, he has not openly asked to move, other teams are after him and his price tag isn’t lower than it should be), but you never know, maybe this year will be the year when it happens.
Welcome to my Juventus’ target power ranking.
1) Alexis Sanchez, 25, Barcelona
He comes from a great season at Camp Nou: 21 goals and 17 assists. He has been great in the World Cup. He has already played in Serie A (21 goals, 20 assists in 112 games with Udinese), and he’s in his prime. He can play efficiently on the right and as a second-striker. Barcelona bought him three years ago for €26M and massive add-ons (for a total around €40M). However, he looked on his way out of the Spanish club after the hiring of Luis Enrique and his ‘young revolution’, but now he seems set to stay. His WC has just ended and we’ll see what will happen once he’ll talk with the club. Juventus have to face very tough competition from Liverpool and Arsenal and we know we are not going to outbid anybody.
2) Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, 26, Fiorentina
He put his feet on the gas after January and he just can’t stop scoring. He tallied 23 goals and 20 assists this season. He can play as right winger, left winger, right wingback (don’t expect him to defend though). He was fielded by Montella even as right-back and central advanced midfield/second striker. He’s one year older than Sanchez, but he blossomed later than the Chilean and he’s still on the rise. He was the best dribbler in last year’s Serie A. Fiorentina want to keep him, but there will probably be a bidding war among the top clubs in Europe and the price tag could skyrocket. Juventus have basically no chance of acquiring him, but the management is a huge fan of his game and he’s still linked from time to time.
3) Juan Manuel Iturbe, 21, Hellas Verona
Very talented, incredibly fast, outstanding dribbling skills. Hellas Verona redeemed him for €15M. He’s an excellent youngster, but it remains to be seen whether he can remain dangerous in a team that doesn’t use the counter-attacking game as much and where he won’t have much open room to operate. Also, it’s not sure whether he’ll be able to play as a second-striker. His qualities are undeniable, at the moment Juventus are battling with Milan and Hellas Verona are milking it. It would be a great purchase for €18-20M, not sure if we go up in price. All in all, his numbers do not blow you away (eight goals, five assists). Great upside though.
4) Xherdan Shaqiri, 22, Bayern Munich
He has been at times linked to Juventus. He has not really been able to establish himself at Bayern after the arrival of Pep Guardiola, yet he played 69 games in two years for the German club, scoring 15 goals. Very talented and still young, he could be a potential steal if Bayern let him go to acquire a more touted winger. Liverpool are strongly after him too. He can play on both flanks and dribble past the opponents at ease. He has the total package.
5) Alessio Cerci, 26, Torino
He was linked to Juventus at the beginning of the summer and not recently. Torino have reportedly put a €20M price tag on him. He comes from two very good seasons and last year he added a new dimension to his game by playing in a more central position in a 3-5-2. He glides past his man very easily, great finisher with his left foot. A leader on the pitch, but the character could be an issue: he didn’t play well at Roma and Fiorentina, which are bigger club compared to Torino. Can he bear the pressure of being in a top team and not being the go-to-guy on the pitch?
6) Antonio Candreva, 27, Lazio
At Lazio, he finally found his place and his position. He can easily finish in double digits in both goals and assists. He’s a tireless winger, a force down the flank, and not afraid of carrying the team on his back. Very capable long-range shooter. He is already accustomed to the Juventus’ environment, even if he joined too soon. He can play as central midfielder in some occasions. However, Lotito is a tough negotiatior and after spending €9M to redeem, the price tag will be very high.
7) Luis Nani, 27, Manchester United
He comes off two very bad seasons (34 apps and 4 goals combined) and didn’t look particularly energetic in Brazil, despite the goal against the USMNT. However, he once was a fabulous player, an electric winger who can play effectively on both flanks and tear defenses apart. He’s still only 27, therefore he’s probably recoverable. He signed a multi-year contract last season, therefore the fee and the wages wouldn’t be cheap.
8) Ivan Perisic, 25, Wolfsburg
He played at very high levels in the World Cup. He’s ambidextrous, agile, and a good finisher. He moved from Borussia Dortmund to Wolfsburg for €8M last year. He has been linked very timidly to Juventus, probably it was only because he excelled in Brazil. He would be a useful addition, even though when I saw him at Borussia Dortmund he didn’t look as skillful as the other exciting attackers Klopp had at his disposal.
9) Victor Ibarbo, 24, Cagliari
He has rare physical tools, but he’s very raw and not a finished product. Not a good finisher, questionable decision-making. He needs a lot of coaching. Poor technique, unpolished feet. On the positive side, he can play in all position in the attack. If he’s not in Zeman’s plans, Cagliari will let him go very easily.
Sanchez remains my dream signing. Shaqiri and Iturbe would be great additions, I’m not very enthusiastic about Perisic, Nani and Ibarbo/ Perisic used to play in the Belgian league, is only second fiddle now, he ain’t up to Juve levels. Same for Ibarbo and Nani is just too lazy and I’d prefer younger players. So I’d drop Candreva too from my wishlist, despite the fact I like him.
delete
Omg if we got Ibarbo I’d just give up
or pereyra
To be honest I think the best we’ll get this transfer window is Iturbe
im not really that impressed by iturbe. he flopped at porto, had one average season at hellas, is over reliant on his left foot, and all of a sudden is worth 25mil? ridiculous
Like most, my wish is that we can close the negotiations with Barca over Sanchez as soon as possible! Given that Vidal stays at the club I think those two will be a magnificent duo given their history (together at Colo-Colo and the NT).
And on the other side of a 4-3-3 I’d very much like to see Shaqiri. I’ve always liked him, even before he joined Bayern and were at Basel. His young age tells that he has loads of potential and he’s very strong too even tho’ he’s almost a midget.
And the last position needed to complete the 4-3-3 is the left back. And here I dream of Ricardo Rodriguez from Wolfsburg. I’ve seen a couple games of his this season and after the world cup I just fell in love. Abd he’s only 21. So with Licht, Shaqiri and Rodriguez we would have a Swizz omni-knife at out disposal.
Iturbe remain very overrated in my opinion. His pricetag is nearly enough to Secure Sanchez if not Arsenal and Liverpool screws us.
I dont think Sanchez will come, reports have other teams offering more than we are for him. Shaqiri would be awesome and much less than both Sanchez and Iturbe. Iturbe has upside, only 21, and produced 8 goals and 4 assists last season for Verona. Not bad numbers for a winger on a mid to lower level team. He is a little raw though, needs some work. Rodriguez was rated the best LB in the top 5/6 leagues last season by Whoscored, and looked pretty good for the Swiss.
half of iturbe’s goals came from free kicks
A goal is a goal though, and hes still only 21. If hes scoring off of free kicks at 21, I cant imagine how good he will be in the future. Plus, Im sure he missed out on a lot of opportunities to score due to Verona’s game plan of get the ball to Toni.
he missed a lot of easy chances too. don’t forget the fact that his right foot is terrible. because of that, there were a lot of games where defenders were able to easily make iturbe a non-factor.
he could very well be a bust. i rate him highly for his age, but not 25m highly. hes more of an 18-20m player. i think marotta sees sanchez when he looks at iturbe though. sanchez was decent, then exploded one season and the rest is history.
sanchez could finish though and he was good with both feet. iturbe isn’t. also, berardi is better than iturbe, is younger, and will be back here next season. 25mil for iturbe would be money down the drain
berardi is definitely better than iturbe, but i can see us playing both of them together. they are both young enough to adapt to the other side of the field if need be. berardi-cf-iturbe or iturbe-cf-berardi could be a good line next season. but, ya, 25m is too much.
berardi does his best when used as a rw since he can cut in and finish. iturbe does the same thing but not as good as berardi does. also, iturbe had a much better team than berardi had. i wouldn’t pay more than 18mil for iturbe if berardi wasn’t owned by us. since berardi is, i’d much rather sign a player who can already play on both wings
they spend 25 million on this kid but wouldn’t spend 12 million on Verratti.
Amen to that one
Unfortunately so… Read last night that Manchester United has made a move on him too.
If only Marotta wasn’t such a cheapskate we could have secured him after just his first WC game this year, I believe.
Shaqiri and Rodriguez would be a nice couple to bring in for sure. Come on Marotta!
marotta reminds me of a used car salesman, cutting every corner possible to save some dough. you want a ferrari? well how about a fiat instead? its the same company, just not as nice or fast, but if we keep sinking money into it it could potentially beat the ferrari. if not, well it still drives doesnt it?
Touché.
Put that on a banner and bring it to then next Juve-game.
if i could photoshop better id photoshop ole lazy eye onto a used car salesmans body, and then put the names of our bust players on the used cars hes standing in front of. slightly used jorge martinez, 11m off.
Don’t even remind me of that guy.
Luckily the latest busts have been loan deals only- thank God.
But still, Marotta shows that he is capable of bringing in players on the cheap (Vidal, Tevez, and all the ones for free), but 70% of the time he shits in his own hand and eat it (Ogbonna).
ogbonna is overrated. im 99% sure he wont turn out to be the player marotta thought he would be.
i’d sell ogbonna and sign mustafi
Haha I’d sell Marotta too if it was possibru!
I know what you meant, mate.
Mustafi is a promising youngster, but I’d rather see someone like Masi or Rugani get a chance to prove themselves
But Mustafi is a LB, Rugani and Masi CB’s 😛
I’m pretty sure that Mustafi also is used as CB, but hey.. If he can play on the left too, even better. 😉
But I much more prefer Rodriguez on that left back!
Yeah he plays both I believe, or it was RB and not LB, I’m not exactly sure but I liked him 😛
Cheers to that
Exactly. I almost ripped my own head off when I read that we signed him for 15M was it? At the time we were linked with Benatia too and look at us now.
For 2 year (prior to last season) I’ve wanted Benatia to join Juventus. Him and Chiellini forming a rock solid defense. But then… We got Ogbonna. Well done.
Rodriguez is beyond us at this point
there are better young wingers we can get for less than 25mil. why aren’t we going after shaqiri or depay?
Because Marottas one good eye is scouting youth players, while his lazy eye is looking for free agents.
lol iturbe is neither
hahahahaha.. nice!
meh .. Juve will contend for the scudetto but be a group of 16 or maybe quarters at best team in Champions League … Same old song and dance every year with this team .. I really don’t see the need to spend this kind of money on this player.
Going far in Europa League and getting coefficient points in the UEFA rankings should be the real goal of italian teams from serie a like it is in Portugal, we’re not a top league anymore and europe’s top teams no longer play in Italy.. Sad but true, that is the reality now. I dont see an italian team winning a champions league ever again, atleast not for the foreseeable future (10 years at least).
Hope is powerful thing
its a realist approach, a very sound, well adjusted view on things … im not being negative or positive, its just an observation. a large percentage of knowledgeable football fans who know arent fans of Juventus but know football, would probably say the same thing. its not a criticism. its just the reality in today’s football landscape.
Secondly, what’s most obvious in todays day and age of football, is that you have to spend alot of money to win in CL, and we are no longer one of the top spending teams like we were 10 years ago. this is major dynamic today, you have to spend to play with the likes of Bayern, PSG, Madrid, Chelsea, Barca and the like ..
I never disagreed with you that IS a realistic thought, i was just saying… Hope is a powerful thing. nothing more, nothing less
IMO I would take the gamble of signing Iturbe.
Me too but it’s a hefty price tag for a player you’re not 100% sure of. I liked Iturbe but 25mill and as I read, Quags is also included, this is the biggest transfer ever from Marotta. I think they really believe they’re signing a next Messi or something, I just hope Iturbe is going to be worth the price tag.
Either he will prosper with Juve, being surrounded by quality players or he’ll bust under the pressure.
So it seems that Juve have agreed to pay Iturbe 1.7 mill plus bonuses per season and a few millions euros is all that is separating the final agreement between Juve and Verona(reportedly).
Whats the price tag range now then? I see everything vary from 21 to 30mill, do we give Quags to Hellas or not?
I think theyre deciding between 23 and 25-28 mill
Sheee this is expensive stuff. If only we had a glass ball to see if it is worth it xD
quags wants to join torino. torino want quags but don’t want to pay for him. instead they’re offering darmian and asking juve to give quags+8mil. tbh, i’d do it
I’d jump on that right away, Lichtsteiner is great, but age is beginning to speak against him, plus Darmian did very well at the World Cup
Darmian is a late blossom tho’. Already 25.
But between Darmian and Isla as Licht’s substitute – I’d take Isla for two reasons.
1. We already own him
2. He did much better than Darmian at the WC in my opinion!
isla isn’t a rb though and darmian can play rb and lb. also, isla could get us 10-12mil because of his good performances in the world cup.
Isla can play as right back with ease!
He sucks at taking runs up and into the box, but at RB as he plays for the Chilean NT he’s a beast!
Remember Asamoah wasn’t a winger when we bought him. He used to play on the defensive midfield. Anybody can adapt. And I believe Isla will be the right guy for the RB substitute, as well as other positions.
+ I think that Torino is askin way too much for Darmian.. :-/
chile play a 3-5-2/3-4-1-2. he’s their rwb
I remember that in Chile’s first WC game, the one against Australia, they played a 4-3-1-2 with Isla as rb and he was doing a damn fine job.
Some of the games in the qualifiers he was deployed as rb too.
But I still believe that he can function in the rb position in Juve.
And if we will play with the 3-5-2 formation in some games next season he’ll still be able to operate that rwb too.
like!
But we will use wingers now, so instead of 2 players at the flanks there will be 4 needed. So I think it would be really useful to have him, plus he can play on the left too. We don’t really have a solid LB yet
You mean Darmian or Isla, bro?
darmian
Darmian is 24 and many Italian players emerge late so I don’t think thats an issue because we can still have 6-8 years of him at the top of his game and based on the last few seasons he is twice the player that Isla is
More mediocrity.
Juve seems to not have enough from the serie a and seems to care less about European competitions. More serie a players more.
in some good news, hellas don’t want to budge from their 30mil price for iturbe and negotiations have been put on hold for a few days while they wait for other teams to get involved. hopefully beppe and co can clear their minds and go for a player who is actually worth 25mil
I hope that’s true!
There’s no way that Iturbe can be worth more than 20M – at best!
I want Marotta to blaze Liverpool for Shaqiri instead!
shaqiri is better than iturbe and would be a cheaper option. i dont get what marotta is doing.
Neither do I… He’s clearly sleeping at the job.
Sometimes I feel like I know more about the transfermarket than he does.
a new 50,000 seat stadium in san joaquin chile is going to be named “Arturo Vidal”
If we sign Candreva , I will probably hang myself !!!