Over the course of the summer, Chelsea were trying their best to get Romelu Lukaku off their books, with a deal including Dusan Vlahovic at Juventus being discussed.
There was hope some sort of swap could be put together, but it never went through, as the Belgian eventually ended up on loan with José Mourinho at AS Roma.
However, Chelsea nearly got the swap deal over the line, as revealed by journalist Sandro Sabatini on Pressing, relayed by Juventus News 24.
He said: “Lukaku would have suited Allegri and Juventus. The deal with Chelsea was done: €20m + Lukaku for Vlahovic. This team with Lukaku would have a few more chances to win the Scudetto.”
Why it never went through isn’t revealed, but there were many reports of a reluctance from the Serbian to move to London, where uncertainty reigned following a disappointing season and no clear plan, regardless of whether Mauricio Pochettino was in charge or not.
This is backed up by Calciomercato, who have an article about Vlahovic’s potential renewal at Juventus, with talks continuing ‘at a slow pace’ as they want to lower his wages.
Vlahovic, while unlikely to want to do that, still has a desire to ‘stay’ at Juventus, as the outlet recall he ‘demonstrated this’ during the swap talks with Blues, which ‘did not materialise’.
His doubts have since been proven, as Chelsea are currently languishing in 12th in the Premier League after 16 games, winning just five of those, losing seven and drawing the other four.
Juventus, down their end, are second in Serie A, just two points behind leaders Inter Milan, having lost just one of their 15 games.
