January is fast-approaching. The European transfer window will reopen on January 4th and for Juventus, that date probably couldn’t come any quicker.
Andrea Pirlo hasn’t got off to the best of starts as manager of his former club – 5th-place after the first seven games of the 2020-21 Serie A season and already, some cracks are starting to appear.
They’ve drawn four of their seven league games this season and some of them to beatable opponents – Verona at home, and Crotone away. Adjustments need to be made and whilst they might come with time, business could still be done in January.
With an ever-growing squad size though, and a sky-high wage bill, Pirlo will likely need to offload to finance any incoming. Here we take a look at three players he needs to sell in January:
Federico Bernardeschi
The striker has probably been one of Juventus’ poorer signings of the modern era. Joining from Fiorentina in 2017 on the back of an 11-goal season in the Serie A, he’s managed just 7 goals in 82 league appearances for the club.
Last season he scored just the one goal in 29 and now, having featured on three occasions this time around and without scoring, his permanent departure looks imminent. The club stated their desire to sell over summer and a Florence return was touted, but for the 26-year-old to play it down.
Sami Khedira
A World Cup and Champions League winner, and of La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga too, Khedira is one of the most decorated players in Italy. His 2015 move from Madrid to Juve made sense and for his first three seasons, he was a pivotal player.
Now having racked up 144 appearances for the club and scoring 21 goals, the days of his involvement in the first-team look long gone – he’s not featured since June having struggled with injury.
Pirlo was not shy in stating his desire to sell Khedira in the summer. No suitors would emerge though with Khedira’s wage no doubt playing a part – Pirlo will likely try and force his exit this coming January, and he might even consider a loan deal.
Paulo Dybala
Now in his sixth season in Turin, Dybala has firmly cemented his stature as one of Europe’s most clinical strikers. For a while now he’s been linked with big names across Europe – Manchester United always being touted, but it’s always been just rumors.
Injury blighted his start to the new campaign. He returned to the starting line-up though and after going three starts without scoring, he’s been demoted to the bench in the last two outings – he did score in one those, against Ferencvaros in the Champions League.
Pirlo though can’t ignore the form of Alvaro Morata and the obvious Cristiano Ronaldo. Federico Chiesa is also making an impact, and Pirlo might do well to cash in on Dybala this January whilst his stock is still relatively high.
