Juventus have ambitious plans for their midfield and one of their staples, Manuel Locatelli, could be one further casualty. Weston McKennie is expendable since his contract expires in 2025. If Adrien Rabiot ultimately returned, the former Sassuolo star could be on his way out, TuttoSport informed (via 90min).
The Bianconeri announced Douglas Luiz over the weekend. They are tending to the negotiation with Nice for Khephren Thuram. They have gained the pole position and need to finish the job. The Turin-based outfit agreed to personal terms on a long-term contract with €2M wages. They are working on the fee with Nice. There probably won’t be a makeweight.
Juventus plot to rekindle their talks for Teun Koopmeiners in the coming weeks, and, if they were successful, there’d be little room for Locatelli in their new-look midfield, especially if Rabiot stayed. Olympique Marseille have emerged as an early landing spot. Roberto De Zerbi helped him blossom at Sassuolo and often raved about him afterward.
The 26-year-old transferred to Turin in a €36.4M move and has been routinely targeted by their fans since he failed to raise the level of his game.
Our Take on Juventus and Locatelli
His permanence will depend on whether he’ll accept to fight for minutes, which will be the case if they simply signed Thuram, which is likely, and if Rabiot re-upped, which is instead less probable. He’s bound to be better since Thiago Motta doesn’t use a deep-lying playmaker, a role he had to adapt, with poor results, due to a lack of alternatives.
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