Juventus may be ready to offer up youngster Samuel Illing-Junior up to potential bidders in the January transfer window, which should be of interest to Everton and Aston Villa.
That’s according to Tuttosport, who name the Premier League duo as potential suitors today as they look at Illing-Junior and his apparent disappearance from the Juventus squad.
The newspaper questions what happened to the youngster, who has not been seen in or around Max Allegri’s team since September 23rd.
He ‘finds himself on the fringes’ at this moment in time and this could lead to a decision being made in January or next summer.
Tuttosport explain that Juventus had decided to hold onto Illing-Junior this summer despite attempts by clubs to purchase him.
Everton and Aston Villa ‘above all’ made efforts for the winger while there were also loan requests from small and medium sized Serie A sides.
They were all rejected but a decision now needs to be made as the player’s current contract only runs until 2025 so by next summer, he will be in the final year of it.
That would make Juventus’ position less strong and so it is possible that his situation will be discussed in the January window and deals looked at. There is a belief Illing-Junior could be used as a ‘bargaining chip’ in a potential deal.
There are also ‘admirers’ in the Premier League and a permanent move ‘cannot be ruled out’ if Juventus were open to the idea and using the money to strengthen themselves.
Whether those admirers are Everton or Aston Villa isn’t specifically stated but given they’re named earlier in the article as big fans, it would surely be one of them, if not both, who would be in the mix.
It seems for now a decision has not been made by Juventus but it’s a situation to keep an eye on nonetheless as we get closer to January.
