Mr Nick09 wrote:better question is, which team would sign Higuain, who is turning 31 at the end of this year for 70-80 millions, with no resale value, with a contract comparable to what he has until 2021 if not more, at 7.5 mil net per season?

not barca, not madrid, not united, not city, not pool, not chelsea, not arsenal, not bayern, not spurs, not psg...

well, no one would

Nick asking the right questions

Belotti is nowhere near Higuain or ever will be. It would be a dramatic step backwards

The only players we have of significant value to barter with are Pjanic, Alex Sandro and Dybala

That’s not to suggest players like Bernardeschi or Douglas Costa do not have value but given what they were purchased for, you’re less likely to see a profit or as big of a profit as you would see for the first three names I mentioned

We already know that Alex Sandro is leaving and will fetch 50-60M. We also know that Asamoah and Lichtsteiner will both leave freely. That leaves us with just Spinazzola and De Sciglio as our full back options so we’ll have to sign two full backs this window off the start.

The funds from Alex Sandro alone would be enough to supplement with our own cash to buy a top midfielder. If we do nothing else, this is a realistic and reasonable expectation.

I think this is going to be a very busy summer

Would not sell Higuain.

actually, thinking about it, Chelsea is your only hope. they have consistently made poor choices at CF and now they are out of the CL for next season, without a star number 9. If one team could go crazy and desperate for an established 9 even if it's a short term operation, it's them.

Or Higuain goes to CHina, but that would cost 160 mil to a chinese team since they pay 100% tax to the chinese goverment...pricey lol

There was a silly rumour of Chelsea offering 80M last summer for Higuain (prior to signing Morata of course), which makes more sense than the ludicrous fee they paid for Morata to be honest

But to sell Higuain, even at 40-60M (hypothetical), and turn around and buy a lesser player like Belotti at still 30-40M is not really going to benefit us in anyway. Sign a worse player for the same money, maybe he'll be a few years younger and on less wages. Not worth it. Higuain is far from the problem as it stands

After a very long time we have a CF who is as good as Trezeguet was(our last WC striker), if not better. So it'd be pretty silly to sell him right now and settle for what would be downgrades if he left. You dont get strikers for reasonable fees anymore. I see people suggesting fantasy scenarios like playing Dybala as a CF but that would never happen. Strikers like Higuain would ensure us to continue to dominate the league which is minimum requirement from the board.

I know people keep talking about the CL like an obsession but in reality, like Allegri keeps repeating every year, our minimum goal is to win the league and reach quarter finals of the CL. Anything beyond that is a bonus. As long as we're achieving this goal, you wont see a change in policy in the next few years unless our revenue dramatically improves.

Higuain is an elite CF, we are lucky to have one

But i think he's the worst of elite CFs

First my post intended to see if it's worth sacrificing something in attack (obviously Higgy > Belotti) to add smth to our black hole in midfield.

Second , as crazy as prices are today I'm pretty sure a 30 year old Higuain can bring us 70m for sure.Yes it depends on which top & rich club may need him but his value is no less than 65-75m.

So I was saying that selling Higuain ~70m and replacing him with Belotti (or sm else of this value) ~40m will surely decrease our quality upfront but since our owners wont add a penny to our transfer budget we will likely administrate transfers with what we have from club profits and transfer profits.
So pretty much it can be a summer when again we sell a star (Pogba before) to bring others (Pjanic,Higuain)

I'd rather keep a 24 year old Dybala and sell Higuain to replace him with a younger and talented striker (again not necessarily Belotti).Along with Alex Sandro sale that would leave us with ~100m + smth from our planned budget should be enough to bring atleast 2 very good midfielders and a good replacement for Sandro.

It comes up often enough so I thought to post this here. A look at the clubs transfer spending since Agnelli, Marotta and co. arrived.

I looked at the top 3 clubs from the top 4 leagues as a point of comparison. The amount shown is cumulative net spend in transfers, in millions of euros since our first season with this management. From transfermarkt.

8 seasons is pretty long, most players for all of these teams has been signed in this time frame, notable exceptions in terms of price is that the kommander arrived just before this.

Make you realize that United and City are especially dumb with money.

Torreira, Cristante, Barella or Pellegrini

Which one would you sign? (IN addition to a top midfielder like Sergej- hypothetically)

For me, I'm firmly camp Barella or Pellegrini

Starting with Torreira, I feel he suits Napoli's play style like a glove. After them, Inter would be screaming out for a midfielder like him. For us, I don't like him. He's quite small, but a very hardworking physical presence, a bit like Allan is for Napoli but better offensively. I would pass.

Cristante. I see him as the Italian Khedira, maybe better at some things but a similar profile. He makes intelligent runs late into the area and scores, and he's a physical presence/willing presser in the midfield. I'd pass.

Barella. Presses well, good dribbler, excellent passer. I think he would be a good signing.

Pellegrini. I think the highest ceiling of any of these players talent wise (Barella seems up there too), but is also having the least impressive season of these four names in his first season with Roma. Offensively, the best of the pot. Has not shown a great deal of consistency at Roma after being impressive in season's passed and in the Euro U21 last summer. He can do some spectacular things on the field (see his goal in the U21 Euro, you'll know when you find it). At 25M, his release clause, I think he would also be a good signing.

The question is, do we need a young CM to develop at the moment? I believe we have bentancur and we can focus on him, like we did with Pogba earlier. We need an established CM with good experience at a top club rather than a young one with potential (the ones you mentioned). Pellegrini would be the best choice, but even he isn't a starter at Roma. We need someone who can carry the midfield with Pjanic other than Khedira, Matuidi and (Marchisio).

I'd go for SMS at the moment, as I see everything in him. He is very similar to Pogba, and he can improve a lot at Juve.

For the summer what I would do is (assumimg that Dybala is not sold):
- Get SMS
- Solve the issues in the full back positions (buy a Sandro replacement if he wants to leave, get replacement for Lichtsteiner- Darmian is a very feasible option, maybe on loan with option to buy?)
- Get someone to compete with Higuain for that CF forward, because Mandzukic's position in the left seems to become more and more natural. I wouldn't be surprised if Juve went for Belotti.

Front page of Corsport headlines that Juventus are on Morata. While they're in Madrid to attempt the miraculous comeback vs Real, they're also negotiating with Chelsea for the return of Álvaro

Thoughts ?

Not the biggest fan of ex-players returning and Morata hasnt really improved much since leaving Juve. Still doesnt show that 'toughness' on the pitch if you know what i'm talking about. Besides it would take a considerable investment to bring him back anyway so i'd pass even though he has given us some really special moments in CL and we could do with a player like him who has a good track record in Europe.

I've seen people saying a Higuain 'backup' is unnecessary but he cant keep playing every game. That Schick deal would've been so ideal for us if not for his medical condition.

S wrote:Front page of Corsport headlines that Juventus are on Morata. While they're in Madrid to attempt the miraculous comeback vs Real, they're also negotiating with Chelsea for the return of Álvaro

Thoughts ?

Instead Juve should concentrate on not getting embarrassed tomorrow.

Agreed Higuain needs someone to rotate. Quagliarella is the perfect choice at decent price. Just wtf are those rumors nowadays ? Martial, Morata... not players who would join as subs. Or maybe Allegri is using 4-1-5 next season ? Given the state of our midfield this could be reasonable

I loved Morata the 2 seasons he was here but i've turned the page since. Another one who lacks consistency. Would be very expensive for an improvement we don't necessarily need. His best position is LW.

I think Juventus and Morata had positive experience with one another, and there is no reason to not want him back and give another try with Morata

however, I don't see this happening because Morata is too expensive unless his club release for free transfer and we take care of the salary, that kinda sounds worth a try

Higuain is not a big game player.
Just look at Mandzukic.He was on a poor form and honestly not a lot of people expected him to be so clinical on headers but he did.He is not a better player than Higuain but he's a big game player.He doesn't give a shit if it's Real or Barca etc he does his job.
He scored a unforgettable goal last year in final and a brace yesterday.
We need a striker with such mentality for big games and preferably a constant threat on headers because Higgy offers no danger on those.

Higuain cannot help too much if the ball doesn't go final third

there can be strikers out there, who maybe perform better UCL because are more versatile and manage to do something even if the team cannot dominate the game

Juventus met with the agent of Atletico LB Filipe Luis in Madrid.
In midfield, Juve are hoping to sign Emre Can and are following Bryan Cristante. [GdS]

Disgusting

Lighting candles to keep all 3 players away

Khedira: "Emre Can? I heard about the rumours but I don't know what decision he will take for his future. He's a very interesting profile and is right kind of player for the future of Juventus"

Filipe Luis, Emre Can and Brandon Cristante. *bleep* me

Top class mercato incoming

Haven't even read gazzetta today but I'm sure the Luis links are real. Doesn't get more Juve than signing an old "top" fullback ready for one last challenge on the cheap/free. Evra, Alves...

I for one welcome that. As long it's not just accompanied by Can and Cristante of course. Cheap stopgaps on less important positions hopefully allow us to strengthened elsewhere.

Still don't see any top fullback opportunities for us. In the mean time Luis seems like a good foil for Spinazzola. Opposite type of player.

Just broke his leg and he's 33, i'd pass

Positive sides however:
- would fit in the J-Mould easily
- warrior, great in defensive
- mentor for Spinazzola/MDS

Didn't know he broke his leg

That's a shame

Broken fibula, according to Google Images it seems a important bone.

Not that big of a deal comapred to knee injuries.

Many rumors currently because Juve "show interest"... in fact we are just scouting the market. Last week it was Darmian and Pellegrini, for example.

That said, Emre Can is a very persistent rumor, more likely then not he will join for free. Let's pray for a Witsel-like conclusion to the story.

Marotta said Can will make his desicion regarding our interest within 10 days.

If we're getting Filipe Luis which i see as a big possibility , i atleast hope we get a young competent starter quality RB.

Cant have quick fixes on both positions.