Juventus are claimed to have warned Borussia Monchengladbach that they are willing to wait until the summer to land Denis Zakaria for free, as opposed to striking a deal this month.

The midfielder is into the final six months of his current deal in Germany, and the Old Lady appears to be trying to steal a march on their rivals by trying to land him this month, as opposed to be one of a number of contracts he has on offer come the summer.

Despite the above, Juventus are playing hard-ball over some supposed bonuses which would add to the price of the transfer, and appear to be willing to run the risk of missing out by waiting to try to land him at the end of the season instead.

His arrival is believed to depend on the potential departure of Rodrigo Bentancur, who has been linked with both Tottenham and Aston Villa in recent days, with the former now believed to be heading the chase.

I can’t help but believe that Zakaria would pose as a great addition to our options, as the more defensive-minded alternative to our current options, and I imagine we will ease on our demands once the sale of Bentancur is all arranged, but there is no harm in trying to get an upper hand in transfer negotiations.

Patrick