Juventus will push to sign Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Axel Witsel in the January transfer window.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Zenit are prepared to sell the 27-year-old Belgian midfielder in January rather than lose him on a free transfer next summer.
Juve are reported to have made a take-it-or-leave-it offer of €6m for Witsel which the Russian club are prepared to accept. The midfielder had previously traveled to Turin in to complete a transfer in the summer, only for the deal to collapse at the last minute.
The Bianconeri will be without the services of Kwadwo Asamoah and Mario Lemina in January when the duo leave for the African Cup of Nations. Witsel is expected to plug the gap in midfield and is eligible to play in the Champions League when the squads are revised in January.
Really hope this comes true. 6mill for Witsel is a steal.
Yap, and we need more physical midfielders. And I hope that the deal with Atalanta come true sooner as well! What do you think about Franck Kassie and Caldara?
Yes, he is a strong player, while not a brute. He will certainly add some elements we currently lack.
I honestly don’t know if they are what we need. Yeah they are doing great right now and I do like Caldara, since he plays on a position we are kind of short on options on soon (Lichtsteiner and Alves are both on the wrong side of 30years old) Yet, I would prefer Lirola to come back and get his chances first. So, I’m mixed about Caldara, both would be nice of course, but is it viable to have two young guns fighting for a spot?
On Kessie I just don’t see who he would replace in our line-up anytime soon. He looks great and promising, but I don’t really think we need the guy? A vice-Pjanic perhaps? Yet Dybala can cover that too.
I’m mixed about the Atalanta boys. There is undoubtedly talent and promise, but whether there is a need for them is more uncertain, in my eyes.
They are all really young though, so perhaps with loan deals they can get experience elsewhere and then play for Juve.. Bit expensive to throw 75million on players you won’t use immediately though!
What do you think of them?
First of all, 75 million? To me it’s a lot of money for 3 young promising but untested players! I didn’t know about it and I don’t think Marotta is gonna pay that much for them.
About Lirola I totally agree, we should bring him back to learn from Alves (his idol) and integrate him slowly to team, hopefully our next righ back or right wing back for years to come.
About Caldara, he looks really talented. I love Giorgio and Andrea for the beast they are, but at their age they can’t play +40 games per season anymore. Caldara looks like a physical and powerful center back, who is great in the air and completes the class and grace of Rugani. Maybe we don’t need him right now, but if we buy him and let him on loan in Atalanta for entire season or even next season, we may have secure our center backs for next ten years!
But Kassie, actually I think is the type of player which is most urgent need of Juve, he is powerful and can outbattle the opponent, has the technique and great range of passing, helps in defend but can burst forward, he is a very promising box-to-box midfielder. He is already better than Sturaro, Asamoah and Lamina. Actually Sturaro and Asamoah should feel really lucky to find themselves in Juve squad! Kassie can compete for box-to-box midfield position and provides muscle and great sub for Khedira!
Yes it is an enormous amount of money, I do not believe Juve would spend that anyway. Its just rumours though, lets wait and see.
That is exactly what I hope for Lirola too. It would be nice to have some players in the first team who come from the academy.
Caldara is the one who interests me the most, he is talented, young, Italian and has prospects in a future Juve.
Concerning Kessie, I see the talent and I too think he would be a fine addition, but who will he replace? Not Marchisio, not Pjanic, not Khedira and not Witsel. I dont expect Asamoah to be in the team next season if he cant make an impact later in the season. Sturaro is good though, I am convinced he will become a Juve Gattuso still. I think I would be okay trading Lemina for Kessie. Hasnt convinced me at all really and if Kessie would arrive, I dont expect to see much more of Lemina either.
Lemina didnt impressed you, wtf?!?!
Sturaro out. Asa. Hernanes.
In: Witsel, Kessie, Lirola!!!
This season? No, he was awful thus far. He improves a lot when he doesn’t have to be DM, but even as RCM he was average
Interesting. My friend.
Think on Sunday. Or latest Cl game. He was fine. Creates more than Sturaro.
^^this. He is not the greatest, but he has been more than Sturaro for the past season and a half. Send them both to other clubs if you wish, but let’s call a spade a spade.
Sturaro and Lamina are both box-to-box midfielders and need both physicality and technique! While Lamina is not extraordinary, he is better than Sturaro, who has been with us for 2 years without capability to learn a simple stop or ball control!
Thats the point!
Haven’t been able to see the last 3-4 games, did he do well? Thats good news, I was hoping he would find his feet. Hasn’t impressed at all before though.
Sturaro isn’t a creator, this is a useless comparison mate. It’s like saying Mandzukic scores more than Khedira and is therefore a better player. Which isn’t true, it just isn’t what Khedira is meant to do.
Of course youre right.
Marotta wil do the right thing.
You don’t need to agree with me if you think otherwise mate! I respect that you think high of Lemina and low of Sturaro, though it is not what I think of them.
Just comparing the two in chances created is unfair towards Sturaro. Like Khedira, Sturaro also goes forward now and then, but it is not their job to create or score goals
Agreed on Marotta and co though, they are doing a fine job
Ok. Lets finish the StuLam question here. All eyes on saturday. I hope you are able to see it live.
It would be lovely to see Mandzu Pipita ( what does that mean?) and Dybala. All on the pitch.
Never forget what Sturaros toe did for us https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z13WItWzm5Y
Would you prefer him not giving a shit and staying away from the ball or something?
He scored against Real too fyi
Hehe calm down bro, I hear you, it wasn’t a insult. The lad saved us that game!
People seem to have forgotten how good he was last season mate. He also scored one against Bayern. The guy needs some time to regain fitness, thats all.
I have a hunch this guy is going to be a future club hero! A player that turns on the lights so to speak for the whole team to perform at a much high level.
That is what I expect too, he’s a hard worker who does a lot of the dirty work in midfield. The only remark I have about him is that (when he plays for Belgium) he can take too long to decide what to do with the ball, he slows down the rhythm. Besides that, he’s quality
For 6 million I expect Zenit to buy back The Hulk and wrap him into this Witsel deal.
marko pjaca back in training, great news and i cant wait to see him play