The summer transfer session is still a few months away, and yet Juventus have already been heavily linked with almost every midfielder on the market.
The middle of the park has been mostly identified as the ultimate Achilles heel of Andrea Pirlo’s squad.
Whilst the other departments are far from perfect, the midfield is the one in need of a rehabilitation.
Whilst a host of names have been linked with a move to Turin – and Paul Pogba’s return could be the ultimate dream – Manuel Locatelli and Houssem Aouar could be two more likely arrivals – even though this type of sagas often witnesses some unexpected twists and turns.
So how would the midfield take shape in light of these two potential arrivals?
In the form of Locatelli, the Old Lady will have a clear replacement for two of its big, physical and yet underachieving central midfielders – Adrien Rabiot and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Admittedly, it remains unclear whether the Sassuolo man would be a drastic improvement on the current crop, but he should be given the nod to prove his worth.
In 4-2-3-1 formation, the former Milan youngster might just be the ideal partner for Arthur – the two men can form a similar partnership to that of Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira back in 2016/17.
On the other hand, Aouar would be the natural attacking midfielder that Juventus have been waiting for.
With Federico Chiesa on his right and Cristiano Ronaldo reverting to his old left wing role, the Bianconeri would possess a devastating creative force in support of the lone striker.
Of course there are still many questions left unanswered, including the futures of the likes of Ronaldo, Dybala and Andrea Pirlo, but the arrivals of the Italian and the Frenchman would definitely improve the state of the squad.
