You might have noticed a number of stories involving Miralem Pjanić and a potential move to Chelsea these days, and that’s because Juventus are thinking about selling.
While Maurizio Sarri likes having the Bosnian around, he isn’t quite the player he wants in his system, ideally wanting someone more of Jorginho’s ilk to ping the ball around from deep.
That’s where Chelsea come in, as the Italy international, who played an important role under Frank Lampard this season, has a great relationship with his former manager and could be tempted with a move back to Italy, where he first made a name for himself at Hellas Verona and Napoli.
Sarri has made it clear who his preference is, and Corriere dello Sport state ‘the market men of the Continassa are thinking precisely about Jorginho for the eventual after Pjanić’.
It’s explained the Bosnia international is ‘at the centre of several negotiations and could be sacrificed’, with Chelsea one of the reportedly interested sides.
Corriere continue by claiming ‘the idea of a Juventus experience tickles the player’ even if talks have yet to happen.
Contact between the two clubs, however, has already happened, with Chelsea requesting ‘€35m’ for the former Napoli man.
As for who could replace Jorginho, Lampard’s first choice seems to be Derby County’s Max Bird, but the Italian newspaper go on to suggest it could be Pjanić himself and the two midfielders ‘could become the protagonists of an exchange’.
Interestingly enough, this all comes after the Chelsea player’s agent spoke to Radio Kiss Kiss in Italy and teased that ‘all players would like an experience’ at Juventus.
Are the wheels being set in motion early on? They certainly could be, but until we see concrete movement, we’ll write it off as early excitement in a period where there isn’t much else to talk about.
