As we mentioned earlier today, interim Juventus sporting director Giovanni Manna headed to London for transfer discussions with some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs.
But aside from discussing the future of Dejan Kulusevski with Tottenham Hotspur, the 34-year-old also held crunch talks with Chelsea over a possible blockbuster transfer.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport via JuventusNews24, Manna had a meeting with Chelsea officials to negotiate a potential transfer for Dusan Vlahovic.
As we all know by now, the Bianconeri are willing to sacrifice the Serbian’s services after missing out on Champions League football next season. The 23-year-old endured a complicated campaign but still has a market.
For their part, the Blues reportedly tried to lower the price by including two counterparts in the shape of Romelu Lukaku and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Nonetheless, this proposal didn’t warm the hearts of the Bianconeri who refused the offer.
As the source explains, Juventus are holding out for a more lucrative offer, preferably one that doesn’t include counterparts, but a cash-only transaction.
Juve FC say
With Lukaku being too attached to Inter, and Loftus-Cheek sounding like a random inclusion, it makes sense for Juventus to reject the reported exchange offer.
However, Vlahovic is also dealing with injury issues at the moment which could lower his transfer fee. So perhaps the Bianconeri will have to accept a reasonable offer rather than requesting astronomic figures.