Assessing Dusan Vlahovic’s return to prominence at Juventus | OneFootball

Some weeks ago, it was clear that Serie A giants Juventus were keen on selling Dusan Vlahovic. The striker hadn’t signed a new deal at the club, with his current contract expiring in the summer of 2026 and with his wages weighing heavily on the Bianconeri’s accounts, a sale seemed the most probable outcome.

Now, the situation has witnessed a U-turn. Vlahovic has scored four goals in four games in all competitions, also assisting Lloyd Kelly’s stoppage time equaliser against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

He has shown a keen ability to come off the bench and make an impact, offering more value than new signing Jonathan David.

This sudden rise has come about in very unlikely circumstances too. Lois Openda and Edon Zhergova have been signed to bolster the attack and potentially take over Vlahovic’s goalscoring burden in the side. But the Serbian has shown that he is still a player that Juve can rely on.

In the past, there have criticisms regarding the striker’s consistency. Those were valid concerns but it was always valid to suggest that he wasn’t playing in the most stable or the most attacking setup, as Vlahovic’s time at Fiorentina is often compared to his stint at Juve even though the two clubs have had very different setups.

Under Vincenzo Italiano and Cesare Prandelli, Vlahovic was in the box far more often than he was under Max Allegri, indicating a clear difference in how he was used.

Coming off the bench under Igor Tudor offers Vlahovic a very distinct role – score goals. Since Juve play with two number tens and wing-backs, there is little burden on him to come deeper to link up play. And with Kenan Yildiz sparkling and the team now gaining a semblance of identity, he understands his role more.

Chips are against him, but he is benefitting a lot from a warrior attitude which he has had for a while now, always responding to criticism with goals.

The next step for him would be to keep doing this consistently. Only that will change the Juve management’s opinion about his situation.

Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN