With this being the week when the likes of Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria are expected to be announced by Juventus, this could be a big few days for fans of the Serie A side.
However, despite the good news when it comes to incomings, there is still the looming story involving a possible exit of Matthijs de Ligt, with Chelsea the strongest suitors at this point in time.
We get two updates on Monday from the major Italian newspapers, starting with Tuttosport, who claim that ‘to secure the performances of the strong Dutch defender’, the Blues ‘must push their foot on the accelerator and make an offer that matches the request of Juventus’.
Chelsea’s reported was of around €40m + a player, but the Italian club have ‘said they aren’t interested in technical counterparts’, meaning they will only say yes ‘in the face of pure cash’.
That’s around €20m less than his current release clause, and ‘while waiting to receive the call from the London club’, those in charge of Juventus have already started looking around, with names like Kalidou Koulibaly and Gleison Bremer mentioned.
Over at Corriere dello Sport, there’s a bit more optimism for Chelsea fans, with it said ‘the sale of the Dutch centre-back no longer seems to be postponed’.
That’s because the Blues ‘have started a concrete negotiations after months of courtship’, but Juventus ‘have not yet lowered their claims’, meaning ‘the wall of €100m must at least be touched if not broken’.
Down their end, Chelsea are upping the offer aforementioned above to ‘€70-75m + a dozen more in bonuses’, although that is ‘still not enough’.
Despite this resistance, Juventus ‘want to close this as quickly as possible, perhaps hoping for a relaunch from Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool or Paris Saint-Germain’.
That seems like wishful thinking, if you ask us.
