Andrea Pirlo has been installed as the new Juventus boss, but who might he be looking to bring in over the summer?
The midfield Maestro was only appointed as Juventus’ U-23 coach a week prior, but now after Maurizio Sarri’s abrupt sacking, Pirlo will lead the Old Lady into the next season as the first-team coach.
Many expect a summer clearout at the club – the likes of Aaron Ramsey looks set to depart, and so those high-earning players will make way for some new, hopefully much younger blood in the side.
Here we take a look at four Serie A prospects that Pirlo could look to bring in over the summer:
Marash Kumbulla
The Albanian international has already been linked with both Juventus and Inter this summer. At 20-years-old, Kumbulla has this season emerged as one of the most exciting young defenders in the league.
Often playing in the middle of a back five at Verona, Kumbulla featured 25 times in Serie A for the Scaligeri last season, in what was his breakthrough season at the club.
Verona will do well to hold onto him after the last campaign, but it’s thought that the club will hold out for at least 30M euros for the defender, so Pirlo would have to offload some names first to bring Kumbulla in.
Nicoló Zaniolo
The Roma man was once a member of the Inter youth set-up. He made his name in Rome though having been a prominent member of the first-team for the past two seasons.
Last time around, Zaniolo would score 6 goals in 26 appearances for Roma. He did struggle with injury in the second half of the season, but he proved himself a useful player both starting and coming off the bench.
He’s not yet been linked with Juve though. An attacking midfielder, there’d be plenty of room for the 21-year-old at Juve, but again, Pirlo would likely have to cough up a fair few million to pry him from the capital.
Roberto Piccoli
The Atalanta forward has been turning heads this season. Though he’s only been handed one first-team appearance in Serie A so far, there’s a lot of expectation at Atalanta surrounding the 19-year-old.
He’s been in prolific form for the U-19 side once again having scored 7 in 12, including 2 against Lyon U-19 back in March.
An Italian, Piccoli may well attract attention from neighboring clubs this summer, and who’s to say that Pirlo at Juve won’t have looked at a possible transfer already, maybe with the view to loaning him out immediately?
Rodrigo De Paul
26-year-old De Paul is slightly older than the other names on this list, but a player that could benefit Juve nonetheless.
The Argentine international has just completed his fourth season at Udinese and arguably had his best – he scored 7 Serie A goals in 34 appearances.
Juve have already been linked with a move for the midfielder, but that was when Sarri was in charge. Now with Pirlo at the helm, the club’s stance on De Paul may have changed.
Needless to say though that De Paul would be a strong addition to the side given his Serie A experience and pedigree, as would all of the above.
