Massimiliano Allegri will be highly influential in deciding the future of two Juventus players he did not coach before: Arthur and Merih Demiral. The former Barcelona midfielder was among the first ones that showed up for the medicals yesterday. He told a fan that he would stay, but he faces an uphill climb to be a regular, Tuttosport reports.
The lower leg injury that severely hampered him in the second half of last season has improved. However, surgery is still an option, depending on how he feels after the first practice sessions. If he avoids it, he will try to win over the coach during the pre-season. Allegri considers him as a poor fit for his schemes because of his hybrid skillset and limited physicality. However, since Juventus evaluated him €72M in the swap with Miralem Pjanic, moving him without a loss would be complicated.
Merih Demiral will report back next week as Turkey bowed out in the group stage of the Euro. Since Giorgio Chiellini will re-up with the club, playing time will continue to be hard to come by for him. Juventus will consider the offers, but they want at least €35M, the Turin-based newspaper informs.
Despite having few suitors, his market is likely to develop slowly. He is only a secondary target for Tottenham, who are chasing after Jules Koundé and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Instead, Atalanta would move for him only if they sold Cristian Romero; otherwise, they would look at cheaper options. Everton tracked him in previous months, before the departure of Carlo Ancelotti. Demiral joined from Sassuolo for €18M in July 2019.