Juventus General Manager believes the deal for Emre Can to join Juventus will be complete within 10 days while the club are working to extend the contract of Alex Sandro.
The club are preparing for a potentially busy summer ahead with replacements needed for departing players such as Stephan Lichtsteiner, Kwadwo Asamoah and Gianluigi Buffon.
Speaking at the launch of a new Juventus book by La Stampa journalist Antonio Barillà, Marotta gave a brief update on the possible additions to the team as well as addressing rumours about the return of Paul Pogba.
“Now we are in the most important phase of the transfer market, so as always, every day, they link Juventus with many players,” Marotta told reporters.
“That also applies to the Morata affair which is on the agenda today. The fact is that the most important players of this Agnelli cycle who have gone away all carry with them a great memory of Juventus, and almost all of them want to savour the Juventus climate.
“Beyond that though these are simply rumours. I want to deny them, we don’t want to deceive anyone.
“We already have a great attack of international calibre, so it’s an area where we don’t have to make any bets. Therefore, at this point, any operation seems totally utopian.
“Will Mandzukic leave? No. The principle for Juventus is always that if a player asks to leave then, of course, we’ll try to satisfy him, at the point when motivation has dropped or there are other considerations.
“At the moment no-one is in that position, so I have to say that Mario Mandzukic will be a Juventus player next year too.
“Gonzalo Higuain? No, no player is for sale. Higuain is in his second season season with us, he did very well and we’re very happy with him. If we were to receive offers we wouldn’t consider them.
“That applies even more so to Douglas Costa, because among other things you know he was on loan this past season.
“We have an option to sign him outright. He’s a Bayern player today, but we’ll definitely sign him outright between now and June 30, so he’ll definitely stay with us next season.
“We’ll meet with the agents and the representatives of Alex Sandro, we’ll see each other next week and I think it’s desirable to extend the contract. It’s part of those fairly ordinary meetings that take place at the end of each season.
“It’s clear that Emre Can is in a position where his contract expires on June 30, I can’t hide that.
“He’s an attractive player for many clubs, and I’m optimistic because Juventus is a great club and Emre Can is a great player.
“So when he decides to leave his club, which today is Liverpool, we’ll have a great chance. I think this operation can be closed – in a positive or negative way – within 10 days.
“We’ve talked a lot about Perin and Darmian. We can say that Buffon’s natural heir is Szczesny, we made a choice last year and we’re very happy with that choice.
“As I’ve always said though, being a great club like Juventus that participates in several competitions means having two top goalkeepers.
“So I won’t hide that we’ll go in search of a high calibre goalkeeper.
“Perin is a high calibre goalkeeper, but there’s a long way between where we are now, starting a negotiation, and defining the relationship.
“Darmian could fit in terms of those opportunities, players and profiles we’re looking for.
“He’s also an Italian player and we always think that the hardcore of a squad like Juventus should be represented by players who can also wear the Azzurri shirt.
“Paul Pogba? Fantasy football. Douglas Costa’s transfer will become a permanent one and he will remain. Milinkovic-Savic? Evaluating the costs, we will not venture down that track.
“Dybala’s position is quite definite, certainly he is a player we have trusted so much and we are very happy with what he has done and is doing, but from the contractual point of view, I think that last year, when we extended the contract, at that time the contractual and economic aspect was defined.”
