Juventus could be set to miss out on Alex Grimaldo despite making the Spaniard their first choice to replace Alex Sandro.

Grimaldo has been one of the accomplished left-backs in European football and the Bianconeri hope to add him to their squad as a free agent in the summer.

The former Barcelona trainee has refused to sign an extension to his deal at Benfica, with the Portuguese side convinced he is leaving.

A report on Calciomercato.it claims he had been in talks with the Bianconeri in the last few weeks. However, after Juve started struggling with off-field problems, he decided against continuing the talks, meaning a move to Turin is now unlikely.

Juve FC Says

In the last few months, we have had too much bad publicity, which could affect the quality of players we attract.

These players will know there is a chance we could be relegated and do not want to play in Serie B.

It is very important that we solve our current problems as soon as we can so that players can be confident in joining us in the summer.

Grimaldo has many other suitors, so he can afford to ignore interest from a top club like Juve.