Juventus are reportedly considering a move for Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente this summer, as he also stalls on a new contract.

The Bianconeri have been otherwise strongly linked with Robin Van Persie, after the Dutchman’s confirmation earlier this summer that he would not be renewing his Arsenal contract beyond next year.

However, with Manchester City also tracking Van Persie and the striker now arriving at Arsenal’s pre-season training camp in Germany, it is thought that a move to Juve is looking less likely.

Tuttosport believe that the club are now considering alternative options again and alongside Giampaolo Pazzini and Edin Dzeko’s names can be added that of Llorente.

The Spaniard is in a similar situation to Van Persie, with a contract expiring in June 2013. Reports in Spain for the past two weeks have detailed the player’s reported strained relationship with his Coach Marcelo Bielsa and the economic disparity between what the player is asking for as a wage and what the San Mames outfit are prepared to offer.

Franco leonetti is saying we've purchased him and it should be official shortly .

I support this move...
Llorente is great
Hes reasonably mobile for a big guy
Can play upfront on his own and is a great target man.

I don't support it for 20 million euros, but I also don't believe it will happen. If our big forward signing ends up being Llorente, I will be very disappointed. I also feel like we would be paying full price for a guy that does not have any other major teams trying to sign him. Seems like a bad piece of business by Marotta if it happens.

Juventude wrote:I don't support it for 20 million euros, but I also don't believe it will happen. If our big forward signing ends up being Llorente, I will be very disappointed. I also feel like we would be paying full price for a guy that does not have any other major teams trying to sign him. Seems like a bad piece of business by Marotta if it happens.

You cant be serious..Llorente is a fantastic striker and for €20m would be a great value for money buy.Not so long ago ,this guy was rated at €35m+..

And big clubs are trying to sign him..City are reportedly interested in him and United showed quite a lot of interest last year or so.But the important point to consider is most top clubs already comprise of top notch forwards ,hence none have really come forward.

He is a quality striker ,i think he'd be a better signing than Dzeko in my opinion(who would cost ~€28m),not only in terms of money but also quality(I think he's better than Dzeko).

Surag wrote:

Juventude wrote:I don't support it for 20 million euros, but I also don't believe it will happen. If our big forward signing ends up being Llorente, I will be very disappointed. I also feel like we would be paying full price for a guy that does not have any other major teams trying to sign him. Seems like a bad piece of business by Marotta if it happens.

You cant be serious..Llorente is a fantastic striker and for €20m would be a great value for money buy.Not so long ago ,this guy was rated at €35m+..

And big clubs are trying to sign him..City are reportedly interested in him and United showed quite a lot of interest last year or so.But the important point to consider is most top clubs already comprise of top notch forwards ,hence none have really come forward.

He is a quality striker ,i think he'd be a better signing than Dzeko in my opinion(who would cost ~€28m),not only in terms of money but also quality(I think he's better than Dzeko).

I am serious. Sorry, I get skeptical when a guy is his age and still playing for a club like Bilbao. Also, you have to discount his goal statistics coming from the La Liga. It's not exactly the most defensive league in Europe.

He just doesn't excite me at all. Sorry.

Juventude wrote:

Surag wrote:

Juventude wrote:I don't support it for 20 million euros, but I also don't believe it will happen. If our big forward signing ends up being Llorente, I will be very disappointed. I also feel like we would be paying full price for a guy that does not have any other major teams trying to sign him. Seems like a bad piece of business by Marotta if it happens.

You cant be serious..Llorente is a fantastic striker and for €20m would be a great value for money buy.Not so long ago ,this guy was rated at €35m+..

And big clubs are trying to sign him..City are reportedly interested in him and United showed quite a lot of interest last year or so.But the important point to consider is most top clubs already comprise of top notch forwards ,hence none have really come forward.

He is a quality striker ,i think he'd be a better signing than Dzeko in my opinion(who would cost ~€28m),not only in terms of money but also quality(I think he's better than Dzeko).

I am serious. Sorry, I get skeptical when a guy is his age and still playing for a club like Bilbao. Also, you have to discount his goal statistics coming from the La Liga. It's not exactly the most defensive league in Europe.

He just doesn't excite me at all. Sorry.

you make valid pts Juventude.

But still I would take Llorente on a loan-with an agreement to make the deal permanent if he performs well, I think we don't lose with that scenario.

On another note though, I think Lorente is a quality striker and I'd be happy if he joins us over Dzeko, the fact that he played for Bilbao that long is not due to big clubs not wanting him, it was just him being loyal and trying to see out his contract [@ Juventude]

Hmm this is interesting, I would definitely take him. We could use a big target man and he's got skill for a big man. Yeah I want this move to happen.

RVP is injury prone
Cavani out of reach
Higuain looks set to stay
Jovetic is being held down to his contract it would seem. He will probably end up with us but maybe not yet.

@elm

I just get a bad feeling anytime a guy makes a transition like this from a small club to big club at his age. I know there are exceptions to that rule, but I feel like it usually doesn't work out well. If it's a loan deal with option to buy like you said (which Bilbao is probably not likely to accept), then I'd be fine with this deal. Twenty million just seems like a lot for a 27 year old going into the last year of his contract. I would say the same about RVP as well.

I dont think big slow CFs will work well in the modern game. When CL arrives he will be man marked by defenders who are also pretty strong and good in the air, + he cant really out class anyone with speed either. Very risky move for 20 mill Imo, but if they have tried bidding on almost everyone out there, I guess he still should be better than Matri. You gotta take chances though, and Pazzini aint gonna provide much.

Probably lost a lot of reputation out there when people heard about another scandal with players and coach at Juve involved. Probably bad luck there.

Eivindo wrote:I dont think big slow CFs will work well in the modern game. When CL arrives he will be man marked by defenders who are also pretty strong and good in the air, + he cant really out class anyone with speed either. Very risky move for 20 mill Imo, but if they have tried bidding on almost everyone out there, I guess he still should be better than Matri. You gotta take chances though, and Pazzini aint gonna provide much.

Probably lost a lot of reputation out there when people heard about another scandal with players and coach at Juve involved. Probably bad luck there.

Did you not see him against Man UTD? He was superb and played a huge rule in Biblao advancing, not to mention he was injured when he scored his superb volley in the second leg to put Bilbao in the lead. Llorente is one of the most talented big men I've seen, and if it wasent for Ibra I'd say he IS the MOST talented big man in the game. I think youre way off in your analysis of him.



Not even going to bother showing his great header in the first leg in England. Guy knows how to find the net and put himself into the positions to get goals. Supported by a quality team like Juve could score 20 or 30 goals.

Aside from Cavani, he's probably one of the better options we've been linked with. RVP would not last with the physicality & contact allowed in serie a, Dzeko has lost some of his mojo & as we've seen with Torres, may be permanant, Suarez just comitted long term, & Jovetic is too much create & not enough finish.

k2blt wrote:Aside from Cavani, he's probably one of the better options we've been linked with. RVP would not last with the physicality & contact allowed in serie a, Dzeko has lost some of his mojo & as we've seen with Torres, may be permanant, Suarez just comitted long term, & Jovetic is too much create & not enough finish.

I think Llorente is a good option too, was never too happy with RvP coming for all of that money and wage bills. By the way welcome to the forum, always good to see more Juventini.

DiRocco wrote:

Eivindo wrote:I dont think big slow CFs will work well in the modern game. When CL arrives he will be man marked by defenders who are also pretty strong and good in the air, + he cant really out class anyone with speed either. Very risky move for 20 mill Imo, but if they have tried bidding on almost everyone out there, I guess he still should be better than Matri. You gotta take chances though, and Pazzini aint gonna provide much.

Probably lost a lot of reputation out there when people heard about another scandal with players and coach at Juve involved. Probably bad luck there.

Did you not see him against Man UTD? He was superb and played a huge rule in Biblao advancing, not to mention he was injured when he scored his superb volley in the second leg to put Bilbao in the lead. Llorente is one of the most talented big men I've seen, and if it wasent for Ibra I'd say he IS the MOST talented big man in the game. I think youre way off in your analysis of him.



Not even going to bother showing his great header in the first leg in England. Guy knows how to find the net and put himself into the positions to get goals. Supported by a quality team like Juve could score 20 or 30 goals.

Did you see the Europa League final? He was completely invisible.

I think we both know there is no other big man close to the level of Ibra in terms of pure talent. Still, he will never win the CL. Bad luck + lack of creative midfielders in some of the teams he played CL for, being squashed out a bit by Barca, but ultimately when he has played as a pure CF his movement is not CL class Imo. Perhaps Llorente has better movement and strength in the air, which might fit Juve, also the poachers instinct.

Good for Juves attack to acquire the services of Giovinco, who is a little trickster. Perhaps Llorente way up front as the complete opposite of Sebastian can be interesting? I would want to see that, as I think Matri just aint good enough for Juve.

I agree, Matri is not good enough for us. And I don't know why Milan supposedly want him either. Although I don't know how much truth is in the link.

20 Million is a god damn steal for Fernando. By the looks of the comments here no one has really seen him play at all considering I see the same old stereotypes on him being a "target man" or a tall and big #9.

Llorente is quintessentially a false 9 to almost a #10 for the Basque National Selekzioa and Athletic as this has been further amplified since the inclusion of Bielsa. He doesn't just roam in the box, his effective link-up play when dropping deeper and razor sharp passing was vital to Athletic's past results as especially last year. There is literally nothing I don't see him weak at unless he is overplayed (mistake of Bielsa) which was the case near the end of the season. Thankfully Juve don't play the brutal game that Bielsa plays.

2 footed, one of the best in the world at heading, can take on 3 defenders at once, dribbling with guile and direction and of course his absolute trademark clutch ability in big games or dire situations.

I really hope he stays but Juve having him would be a fantastic signing.

Thanx for ur great comment arq. Very useful info. Keep it up

Arquitecto is so right and very precise i think Juve should have gone for him in the first place but hindsight is easy in what proved to be a very difficult window (certainly not one of opportunities) i am really over the Moon if Juve lands this guy he is Basque ffs it can not get much better than this he will do great things at Juve.

Arquitecto wrote:20 Million is a god damn steal for Fernando. By the looks of the comments here no one has really seen him play at all considering I see the same old stereotypes on him being a "target man" or a tall and big #9.

Llorente is quintessentially a false 9 to almost a #10 for the Basque National Selekzioa and Athletic as this has been further amplified since the inclusion of Bielsa. He doesn't just roam in the box, his effective link-up play when dropping deeper and razor sharp passing was vital to Athletic's past results as especially last year. There is literally nothing I don't see him weak at unless he is overplayed (mistake of Bielsa) which was the case near the end of the season. Thankfully Juve don't play the brutal game that Bielsa plays.

2 footed, one of the best in the world at heading, can take on 3 defenders at once, dribbling with guile and direction and of course his absolute trademark clutch ability in big games or dire situations.

I really hope he stays but Juve having him would be a fantastic signing.

Nice with a Llorente expert in here. Well, that does it then, good buy for Juve if they step it up a bit and put Matri to sleep.

Arquitecto wrote:20 Million is a god damn steal for Fernando. By the looks of the comments here no one has really seen him play at all considering I see the same old stereotypes on him being a "target man" or a tall and big #9.

Llorente is quintessentially a false 9 to almost a #10 for the Basque National Selekzioa and Athletic as this has been further amplified since the inclusion of Bielsa. He doesn't just roam in the box, his effective link-up play when dropping deeper and razor sharp passing was vital to Athletic's past results as especially last year. There is literally nothing I don't see him weak at unless he is overplayed (mistake of Bielsa) which was the case near the end of the season. Thankfully Juve don't play the brutal game that Bielsa plays.

2 footed, one of the best in the world at heading, can take on 3 defenders at once, dribbling with guile and direction and of course his absolute trademark clutch ability in big games or dire situations.

I really hope he stays but Juve having him would be a fantastic signing.

Great post man

ever since i lived in spain, atletic has been my 2d favorite club. i can second arquitecto's assessment- especially regarding llorente's loyalty to club and region. i would love to get him.

i saw on another site fans saying that he's not even worth 15 million... i got a good laugh out of those statements. he/ his skill set would be a great addition to juve.

If we paid over 15 million for him and didn't sign Jovetic, I will be quite upset.

Juventude wrote:If we paid over 15 million for him and didn't sign Jovetic, I will be quite upset.

Jovetic isn't available according to Fiorentina, and by the looks of it, Juventus has been showing Fiorentina respect and not pressing the issue

Luca wrote:

Juventude wrote:If we paid over 15 million for him and didn't sign Jovetic, I will be quite upset.

Jovetic isn't available according to Fiorentina, and by the looks of it, Juventus has been showing Fiorentina respect and not pressing the issue

I don't know. Some reports I've read that I don't bother to post have hinted that it will be announced towards the end of the window. I hope that it's true, but you are probably right.