Juventus Tracking Bologna Defender and Napoli Loanee | OneFootball

Juventus are widening their scope after appointing Giovanni Carnevali, and he and Luciano Spalletti intend to bring in a few established players already familiar with Serie A and have added Jhon Lucumi and Elijf Elmas to their wish list, Gianluca Di Marzio reports.

The latter won’t stay at Napoli following his return on loan from RB Leipzig. He contributed to the Scudetto under the current Bianconeri boss in 2022/2023. He wasn’t a regular starter in the last campaign, but he still played a lot, scoring once and providing 4 assists in 44 appearances. The Azzurri will pass on their €16.5M option to buy, but he’s unlikely to stay in Germany.

While Juventus would have to negotiate with Leipzig for Elmas, they could sign Lucumi by activating his €28M release clause by mid-July, or haggle with Bologna afterward. He’s likely to depart this summer because his contract is up in 2027. He doesn’t plan to prolong it.

The 27-year-old arrived in Italy from Genk in 2022 and has piled up 152 appearances since. He has 37 caps with Colombia under his belt. The Old Lady is in the market for a new center-back because, in addition to Gleison Bremer’s uncertain future, Federico Gatti could be sold for financial reasons, Tuttomercatoweb reports. Napoli and Roma tested the waters, but the Bianconeri value him at around €30M.

Our Take on Juventus, Elmas, and Lucumi

They should do what they can to convince Tarik Muharemovic before pivoting toward other left-footed center-backs and eventually add one that would be a clear upgrade over Lloyd Kelly. It’s debatable whether the Rossoblù star falls into such a category. The North Macedonian talisman would be a fine deputy under the right circumstances.