We are just a couple of days away from the start of August, and that means we are smack-dab right in the middle of the summer mercato. Things have certainly picked up over the last few days, with rumors aplenty surrounding players who mostly are on the way out rather than any potential new arrivals.
But don’t kid yourselves, folks. There’s rumors about potential signings, too.
So let’s go ahead and look at a few of the main rumors going around Juventus right now as preseason preparations continue under
Igor Tudor. Things certainly aren’t lacking in the same way they may have appeared a week or two ago when the same sort of rumors seemed to be repeating themselves every couple of days.
Douglas Luiz reports to Continassa, apologizes to teammates, coaches for his absence at the start of preseason training
... and no matter what, he will still be leaving this summer.
Monday saw the man at the center of a lot of headlines over the last few days, Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz, finally report to preseason training at Continassa. According to Giovanni Albanese of La Gazzetta dello Sport, part of Luiz’s first tasks after meeting up with the team that he is still currently employed by was to apologize “to the club, the coach, and the team.”
Albanese added that “the matter has been resolved.”
Luiz has resumed training with his Juventus teammates after his unexcused late arrival to preseason camp. While he has still reportedly rejected moves to mid-table sides in the Premier League, Juventus’ main objective is to sell him this summer and try to recoup as much of the big-money transfer fee they handed over to Aston Villa 13 months ago.
At this rate, it’s hard to say where Luiz will end up. All we pretty much know is that he is going to be leaving Juventus and they’re going to try to not take a serious loss on one of their biggest transfer misses in years.
Marseille holding firm with stance that they won’t up offer for Weah
The unfortunate part of this all is that this isn’t the first time in which Timothy Weah has been involved in a proposed deal that has seemingly come to a screeching halt.
This time, though, Weah actually wants to move to Marseille. You couldn’t say the same about last month’s rumored deal between Juve and Nottingham Forest that Weah (and Samuel Mbangula) ultimately decided to reject in favor of something they favored more.
As things stand now, Juventus are Marseille are at a bit of a stand-off. According to SportItalia’s Alfredo Pedulla on Tuesday, Marseille are unwilling to up their current offer of around €13 million for Weah as Juventus seek to generate a higher transfer fee. Weah has already reportedly agreed to personal terms with the French side and is much more willing to return to Ligue 1, which is a much different stance compared to the proposed move to Forest at the end of June that collapsed.
All of this is very much connected to the reason as to why Weah’s agent was quite vocal over the weekend about how Juventus have treated his client’s potential move to a new club this summer. As Juve hold a strong line in terms of what they want for Weah, the player’s side of any potential deal
Juventus linked to Liverpool striker Darwin Nuñez
See? It’s not all about players leaving!
So, as the negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain drag on and there seems to be no true progress made between the two sides as compared to a couple of weeks ago, the Italian press is starting to cook up an idea or two when it comes to potential alternatives for Juventus to sign other than the 26-year-old Frenchman.
Enter Darwin, a player who has already seen plenty of words dedicated to his future potentially being in Italy so far this summer. According to SportItalia’s Alfredo Pedulla on Monday, Juventus have checked in on the want-away Liverpool striker who has also been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in recent days.
Nuñez is essentially in the same situation that Douglas Luiz is in — he’s going to leave his current club, but has yet to find the next club that he is going to play for just yet. For a good portion of June and into July, Nuñez was linked with a move to Napoli before Antonio Conte decided to go with Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca, thus forcing Liverpool to find another club to try and acquire the 26-year-old Uruguayan.
An initial €75 million million signing by Liverpool in the summer of 2022, Nuñez has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that came with such a massive transfer fee. (Hey, that sounds kinda familiar to the guy who wears the No. 9 shirt at Juventus! How funny!) With Liverpool almost completely remaking their attack this summer — partly by choice, partly due to the tragic death of Diogo Jota — Nuñez is one of the many players who will be on the way out as the Premier League champions spend big to get their top targets.
Over three seasons with Liverpool, Nuñez has played in 143 games (76 starts) and scored 40 goals with 23 assists.
Arthur could have an out thanks to Besiktas
One final report to round out the day’s worth of transfer rumors, and this one comes from SportItalia’s Gianluigi Longari on Tuesday who says Turkish side Besiktas are interested in everybody’s favorite diminutive Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo.
Arthur has returned to Juventus — and is taking part in preseason training at Continassa — after spending the second half of last season on loan in Spain with Girona. He made 15 appearances during said loan spell in La Liga.
But with two more years (!!!) left on his contract, Juventus are once again looking to find a club to place the soon-to-be 29-year-old Arthur. It’s unclear if this would be anything more than yet another loan move for Arthur, who has also been linked with a few clubs from Spain earlier this summer.
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