TuttoSport via Calciomercato claims that Juventus had Houssem Aouar in their hands in the last transfer window but abandoned the chase to land Federico Chiesa instead.
Aouar emerged as a transfer target for the Bianconeri when the transfer window reopened last summer.
He has been one of Europe’s best young midfielders and he was instrumental for Lyon when they eliminated Juventus from the Champions League round of 16 last season.
His performance in that competition led to several teams looking to sign him when the transfer window reopened and Juve will probably have landed him if Pirlo didn’t have his way.
The report says they were close to completing a move for the Frenchman, but he didn’t join them because Pirlo told the Bianconeri that they had to sign Chiesa for him instead.
About the transfers, Tuttosport wrote:” In fact, at the end of the last summer session, Juventus had the talent of Lyon in their hands, but preferred to close the deal with Fiorentina for the ’97 class and satisfy Pirlo .”
Landing Chiesa wasn’t so easy for Juve with Fiorentina remaining adamant that they didn’t want to sell the Italian initially, but he has now become a top performer in Turin.
Aouar remains on the radar of the Bianconeri ahead of the next summer transfer window.
