Juventus have reportedly set their sights on Olympique Lyonnais’ Houssem Aouar and Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli as they prepare to replace their underperforming midfield duo. Recent reports in Italy have suggested that the Bianconeri are looking to offload Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey at the end of the season.
Both midfielders joined the Allianz Stadium outfit as free agents in the summer of 2019, but neither has managed to settle in Turin. Although the former Paris Saint-Germain star recently integrated himself into Andrea Pirlo’s starting XI, the ex-Arsenal man has resigned to bit-part appearances from the bench.
According to Calciomercato, as relayed by Juvefc.com, the reigning Serie A champions will try to replace the out-of-sorts duo with a fresh pair of faces.
The first name on Fabio Paratici’s wishlist is in-demand Lyon playmaker Houssem Aouar, who has been a subject of wild transfer rumors over the past few transfer windows. The Frenchman played a pivotal role in leading his side to the Champions League Semi-Finals in 2019-20 and has been one of the headline performers in Ligue 1 over the past couple of seasons.
A host of Premier League sides, including Arsenal and Manchester City, tried to snatch Aouar away from Les Gones last summer.
However, Lyon bigwig Jean-Michel Aulas managed to fend off 22-year-old suitors at the time, having slapped a substantial £50m price tag on the midfielder’s head.
As said by Calciomercato, Juventus can use Mattia De Sciglio as a makeweight in a deal to bring Aouar to Italy. The Italian has enjoyed a decent season at the Groupama Stadium after swapping Turin for Lyon on a season-long loan last summer.
Another potential target for the Bianconeri could be another former Milan player – Manuel Locatelli.
After seeing his first-team opportunities at a premium in Lombardy, the Italian metronome switched to Emilia-Romagna in 2019.
It has turned out to be a career-defining moment for the 23-year-old, who has gone from strength-to-strength at Sassuolo, earning a fair share of praise across Europe. In addition to Juventus, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Liverpool also keep close tabs on the highly-rated playmaker.