When looking at Juventus’ current roster, there are a lot of expendable parts. By that, there are a lot of players who either are ones that you would be totally OK with them selling this coming summer, or ones that the club will likely try like hell to get off the books because of their less-than stellar output this season (or even longer).
But there have always been two players who have virtually been thought of as being off limits whenever a transfer window arrives: the budding young star in attack
who wears the No. 10 and the broad-shouldered Brazilian at the back who has been quite good for much of his time in bianconero.
However, Tuttosport might be telling us something different now.
According to the Turin-based sports outlet earlier this week, Juventus could very well be open to offers for the clear-cut leader of their defense, Gleison Bremer. For a roster that lacks any sort of central defender who can match Bremer’s overall quality, it may seem like a strange thing to do — especially knowing that somebody like Luciano Spalletti has made it every indication that Bremer is a key cog to his defense for next season, acording to multiple reports in recent weeks. But there’s still Tuttosport floating this rumor out there during the second half of the international break, providing us with an opening line that say “discussions are underway” — whatever the heck that means.
The price where Juve would consider a Bremer sale? About €60 million, according to Tuttosport.
Now, is there any truth to any of this? Who really knows. It’s Tuttosport. It’s a rumor that came out in the middle of an international break. And there hasn’t been many other reputible sources that have reportedly anything like it in the couple of days that have followed.
Now, no matter what Bremer’s current form may be — and it’s not great as we wonder just how close to 100% he is physically following his second knee surgery in as many years and then not much of a rest after coming back in the wintertime — he is still crucial to this team. Other than Kenan Yildiz, there may not be a better player currently on this roster than Bremer. We know what he’s like when he’s at his best and how important he is to Juventus’ defense even when he’s trying to get back there. With him not on form or out of the lineup, it’s just not the same unit as it is with him there.
So, why would Juventus, if we are to believe Tuttosport’s report, consider listening to offers for their best defender at a time in which their defense is far from consistent?
Money. It’s probably money. Juve’s Champions League qualification hopes aren’t looking all that great these days with eight games to go. And because of that, a big-time sacrifice not named Yildiz could very well be necessary for the club to generate a sizable amount of cash if they don’t qualify for the Champions League and have to offset that loss of income with a move they wouldn’t normally make this summer.
Tuttosport says Bremer is “no longer as untouchable as he once was.”
Even if that’s the slightest bit true, then who knows what this summer has in store. Maybe we can just shake it off to Tuttosport being Tuttosport for now, but if there’s no Champions League next season, then there’s going to be some hard choices that will have to be made during the summer months.
