Juventus Coveting Commanding Napoli Midfielder | OneFootball

Juventus have more pressing needs at the moment, but Luciano Spalletti wouldn’t mind augmenting their midfield this summer, and he’d like to reunite with one of the main protagonists of his Scudetto at Napoli, Stanislav Lobotka, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.

The chase will be far from easy. The Slovak maestro has a €25M release clause, but it’s valid only for foreign teams. Massimiliano Allegri likes that kind of player. However, president Aurelio De Laurentiis desires to get younger across the whole roster. The ‘regista’ doesn’t have a long-term contract. If he draws decent offers, they’ll be properly contemplated.

On the other hand, Napoli have routinely refused to negotiate with Juventus in recent years, and their rivals would have to offer at least €30M for Lobotka. Spalletti wishes to add another ball handler next to Manuel Locatelli, but the price tag is prohibitive for a 31-year-old.

The Bianconeri could have some turnover at the position regardless of their chances of snatching the Azzurri linchpin. Khephren Thuram is a candidate to depart for financial reasons. Some foreign powerhouses are courting him. He’d be particularly tempted to flee if PSG went after him. His current coach doesn’t consider him untouchable. The Bianconeri will remain in the race to sign Leon Goretzka on a free until he picks another team despite not qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.

Our Take on Juventus, Lobotka, and Thuram

They’d be smart to add another distributor, but luring the Partenopei mainstay is almost impossible. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a deep-lying playmaker, provided they find a defender with decent feet too. They could benefit more from onboarding an inventive and menacing no.10 who could serve as a hub.