Juventus director Beppe Marotta has confirmed that Axel Witsel will join the club and hinted at a possible move for PSG defender Thiago Silva.
The Bianconeri boss was asked about possible transfers in the winter window ahead of last night’s disappointing 1-0 loss to AC Milan.
“Milan have a winning model and it’s good to see so many young Italians in the line-up. Donnarumma? We have an extraordinary Buffon, a professional who is writing new pages in football history. We’ll hold on to him. Donnarumma is a rising star and I think he can improve game by game. Fortunately for Milan, he is their player.”
Marotta was also quizzed on a possible move for potential free-agent Thiago Silva.
“This reminds me of the opportunity we had in the past to go for Pirlo, as he was considered by some to be ‘finished,’ but proved to be a great deal on a free transfer for us.
“Thiago Silva is an excellent player, but having said that it is our duty to look around at what is available. Today he is a PSG player, I don’t know if he will want to come back to Italy or if Juventus can open negotiations.”
The Juve director went on to confirm that Axel Witsel will be joining the club, possibly in a few months’ time.
“Witsel is a player who will be a free agent in June and, if Zenit are prepared to open negotiations in January, we will bring forward what is already a concrete objective for next summer.”
Finally, Marotta revealed that a deal for Domenico Berardi may not be set in stone just yet.
“I will not deny that we evaluated Berardi very carefully indeed. He is an important talent for Sassuolo and the Nazionale, but if the player expressed and continues to express he doesn’t want to wear the Juve jersey, we certainly can’t force the situation.”
No chance milan actually sell donnarumma folks, not to a rival and not to the strongest team in the league. I can see the Witsel transfer happening in January honestly, Zenit’s management missed out on $25mill by stalling….very strange. I don’t want Berardi as he does not want to wear the jersey folks, no love lost. Thiago Silva is probably not happening, I’d say a 25% chance at best. I dont think any of the players mentioned will make us better honestly. I remain cautious on witsel, the russian league is no serie a so I will reserve my opinion.
Witsel is class J, no need to worry.
He has Raiola as his agent…Anything is possible. If the investment from the chinaman does not lead to regular champions league football, Raiola will move him on those very grounds.
Witsel was solid as a rock in Belgium and Portugal, also a mainstay of a decent national side. I have high hopes he will bring muscle, technique and assurance in the middle. Precisely what we are presently lacking.
On another note…Clemenza’s goal in the U19 derby victory as a sublime free kick.
“If the investment from the chinaman does not lead to regular champions
league football, Raiola will move him on those very grounds.”
I think that some very wishful thinking, even now Milan are very well improving, Then on top of that Chinaman brings in the big $ there is no reason why they wouldn’t invest in big name players. They have up untill 2018 that’s a very long time in footbal terms. By then Milan will surley have constant CL football especially with the new rule changes
we might as well start looking elsewhere for a keeper, i Vote Perin or Meret for italians and Dragowski or Leno for non italians
ahh, but Gerald, when I say that Raiola will move him on under those conditions, it will not necessarily be to us. Who can say what our relationship will be with him by that point? And who else will be keen on the kid? However, I suspect to follow in Buffon’s footsteps is a fairytale worth pondering for all parties involved, and it is far from assured that AC will gain champions league qualification or be able to attract top class talent. Money does not mean definite improvement on the field…just look at Inter.
yes yes! I believe that I ear-marked Perin as my own choice or the most likely in an earlier piece>
https://www.juvefc.com/replace-living-legend-2/
It looks like were going to have quite a strong team for years to come with the likes of clemenza, lirola, rugani, keane, bentancur,lemina, vitale, and now maybe dahoud.
Add in perhaps Kastanos, Macek and Caligara…and hopefully Romagna…yes the forward planning is solid and I am confident we will see at least a handful of the present crop of U19s and those out on loan find their way into the senior squad within 2-3 years.
I have yet to find the time to conjure a youth report, but may do so this weekend.
I’ve no idea of Dahoud, other than he is impressing in the bundesliga at an early age and that he is a Syrian. Does anyone here watch him regularly?
Only Witsel and Berardi seem likely to me, Witsel maybe as soon as January.
Thiago Silva doesnt want to move and as for Donnarumma, I dont think any party is looking for a move at this point. Donnarumma himself wants to be at Milan, Milan would only let him go for huge money and Juve doesnt need Donnarumma for at least 2more seasons.
The sole thing that could make him move is Raiola, but in any case, i think he will spend some more time at Milan
I don’t think Berardi is coming to be honest. There has not been a single piece of evidence to show his willingness to join the club. In any case I dont want him to wear the jersey since he has no desire to. If we work the financials out and sell our option I wouldn’t mind making some money off it. Witsel seems destined for Juve, he can’t come to Turin soon enough.
There is only a verbal agreement, our 50% has already been sold. I dont know what Berardi wants, I just wait and see.
Looking forward to Witsel too in all honesty
I cant wait to laugh my a$$ off when berardi moves to his precious inter, and then after years of winning nothing he’ll leave inter and either end up with us anyway or go the route of immobile and end up all over the place. I truly hope witsel joins us in January.
-WItsel will definatley come to the squad it seems, question is are we still selling Hernanes?????
-Berardi? Doubt it at least not for a couple more seasons.
-Donnarruma? Doubt he would want to be #2 only seldomly playing, though if his respect and love for buffon is honest and true, he should join our ranks in buffon’s retiring year
– Thiago Silva….it would be nice but isnt he the same age if not older than chiellini??? we need future WC CB’s not one on its way out.
in other news i read on Liverpools website that we will also make bids for Origi as first choice and Sturridge as second choice
As long as we use a deep-lying playmaker/DM, I think we should keep Hernanes in the team. Only Marchisio fulfills the role well, with Hernanes as understudy. Lemina is just god awful at that position.
Keeping Hernanes and buying Witsel would allow Allegri to use Marchisio where he wants.
Berardi won’t happen in january, but it’s a possibility still that he joins in the summer.
Donnarumma is a Milanista, if I remember correctly he even insulted Buffon when he was 13 years old on Facebook. What he did at that age is of little importance, but I don’t think he has special love for Buffon, perhaps for his heroics as Azzurri player, but not as a Juventus player.
Silva is a fancy name but yes, he is 32 years old now. Not that excited about it either.
Bids for Origi and especially Sterling sound absurd to me
Well Sterling was great at liverpool then lost form at Man CIty, but now that Pep is coaching ManCity Sterling regained his flair, work ethic and form. He has even done well for the national team latley as well. I would love nothing more than to see him with Juve, But as far as i know we arent even trying in that front
Origi Absurd? why? he is a great player, and is young, he makes a perfect understudy for Higuain and Dybala, I would love nothing more than to get rid off The tronco Mandzukic and Pick Up Origi or Sturidge. Realisticly speaking Sturidge sounds more plausible as He constantly gets benched in big games and Klop has him playing out of position (wich sturridge does not like) Origi will be a lot harder to persuade i think.
I meant absurd, not because they are bad players, but because both will cost ridiculously much and Juve needs neither of them. Especially Sterling will cost at least 60mill and he is not even close to that valuable
And just like that, Milan lose again, meaning we could increase the gap up to 5 points with them again, if we beat Samp.
In all honesty though, I want Milan to finish top 3. Despite an intense dislike for them, Napoli too. They seem to do better in Europe than Roma does.
Juve, Milan and Napoli in CL sounds good to me.
Are they playing 4-3-3?
I am not sure. Some say 4-3-3 some say 3-4-3
He doesn’t want to wear the juve jersey ?! F’n moron.
If we don’t get Witsel in January then don’t let Mandragora go on loan, rather give him the chance of playing a bit, he might turn out to be a great revelation.