At the end of the season, Adrien Rabiot will most likely leave Juventus in favor of greener pastures. Between hefty demands and the possible lack of Champions League football, extending the player’s contract seems to be an implausible scenario.
Therefore, the Bianconeri will be searching the market for a new midfielder come summer, and La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Giovanni Albanese named five potential candidates.
The first is the Old Lady’s longtime target Sergej Milinkovic-Savic whose current contract at Lazio expires in 2024. The Serbian still has a valuation of 60 million euros, thus, Juve will be hoping for a discount, otherwise, an agreement would be unlikely.
On the other hand, Davide Frattesi should be a more affordable option. Reminiscently of Rabiot, the Italian is a box-to-box midfielder with a knack for goals. Sassuolo could be willing to part ways with the 23-year-old for a figure between 30 and 35 million.
Then we have two revelations from Lecce. The first is club captain Morten Hjulmand who is proving to be an excellent Regista. The 23-year-old Dane could be available for 20-25 million, but Roma and Atalanta are reportedly on his trail as well.
The other Lecce midfielder is the dynamic Joan Gonzalez, who is a product of Barcelona’s La Masia academy. The 21-year-old’s valuation is circa 15 million.
Finally, Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners could be ready to leave Bergamo, especially if the club fails to qualify for the Champions League. The impressive Dutchman is 25, and the auction for his signature could start at 30 million.
Frattesi.
We are missing that grinta in midfield that Vidal used to bring.
What about Rovella? He is coming back to Juve next season and we don’t have to shell out any money for him.
In a ideal world we would go after Frattesi, a box to box player who can press forward and turn the 3-5-2 into a 3-4-2-1 when attacking. I cannot see juve having the money for his signature given they need at least one wingback and a central defender. Thus trusting the youth might be more sensible. Pogba, Locatelli and Rovella gives a good base with Miretti and Fagioli bringing options and depth. Finally one have to trust on or more of Caviglia, Ranocchia and Barrenechea.