If you’re anything like me, you watch a lot of Juventus, a little of the rest of Serie A, and practically nothing beyond the peninsula. Then, when transfer season rolls around, you hear a plethora of names linked with the Bianconeri and think, “… who?”
Fear not, loyal reader: This summer I’ll be dipping my toes in foreign waters and attempting to turn these players into more of a known quantity — and sharing my findings with you.
There are many areas of the pitch that Juve are looking to reinforce
through transfers. With offensive woes plaguing the team, a natural area to prioritize is the attacking department. Indeed, the club has already been linked with several strikers. Along with former loanee Randal Kolo Muani, the name Alexander Sørloth of Atletico Madrid is one that’s been increasingly popping up in the rumour mill.
Just who is this Sørloth character, and how might he fit into Luciano Spalletti’s squad?
At first glance …
I’ll start with the obvious: the biggest factor setting him apart from the current forwards on the Juventus roster is his stature. The man is tall. Listed at 1.96m (6 feet, 5 inches), if recruited he would instantly become the tallest player on the team, comfortably ahead of third-choice goalkeeper Carlo Pinsoglio’s 1.94m. In other words, this transfer target is, well … a big target. And while I was unable to find the statistics to back it up, a quick viewing of some highlight reel footage (the most reliable evidence that always tells the full story) confirms that, yes, the big man can score with his head — and also has a surprisingly deft first touch for someone of his size.
For a team that is sorely in need of an aerial presence up front to add another dimension to the attack and draw some attention away from their shifty wingers that is no small detail. It isn’t difficult to imagine at least a few more of those tantalizing Pierre Kalulu crosses becoming assists if they’re aimed at the towering Norwegian.
Where’s he played?
As mentioned, he’s currently plying his trade in the red and white side of Madrid. Currently being the operative word, as it’s been a long road getting there for this 30-year-old journeyman. A product of the Strindheim and Rosenborg youth systems in Norway’s Elitserien, Sørloth made the Rosenborg first team in the 2013-14 season. He was quickly loaned out to Bodø/Glimt in January 2015 and later sold (again in January) to FC Groningen of the Dutch Eredivisie in 2015-16. After two years, he was sent to Danish side Midtjylland, winning the league in the process and impressing enough to earn a move to Crystal Palace in another January transfer during the 2017-18 season. Yet another January move was to follow, in the form of a loan to KAA Gent of the Belgian Jupiler Pro League in 2018-19, before it was off to the Turkish Süper Lig and Trabzonspor. There he made a splash, topping both the league and cup goal scoring charts with 24 and 7 goals respectively, earning him player of the season honours and helping the club to a cup title in the process. That caught the attention of Red Bull Leipzig, and the following season he’d trade Türkiye for Germany. A scant six-goal return prompted them to send him on loan to Real Sociedad in Spain for the next two seasons before Villarreal signed him in 2023-24. One year later he signed with Atletico Madrid, bringing us all the way to the present.
That. Is. A. Lot. Of. Transfers.
Those of you keeping score will have tallied 12 teams in eight countries over 15 seasons. And if you’ll refer to my humble bar graph below, you’ll note that despite some inconsistency, he still registered double-digit goal totals in domestic league play six times, for five teams and in three different leagues. Places with varied styles of play, cultures, and languages.
Now, I can tell you’re a perceptive reader, so I’m sure you’ll see where I’m going with this: the guy can deal with a change of scenery. Given so much experience living and playing all over Europe, there’s a good chance that if he does arrive in Turin, he’ll hit the ground running — or at least not be too bothered by the challenges that seemed to hinder previous summer striker signing, Jonathan David.
Yeah, but where’s he played?
Transfermarkt lists Sørloth’s primary position as centre forward. Indeed, with his large frame it seems like a natural fit. That said, the site also lists both the right and left wings as roles he’s filled before, especially with the national team thanks to the existence of Erling Haaland. With Juventus’ wings currently occupied by budding superstar Kenan Yildiz, the very affordable Jérémie Boga and the very promising/frustrating-depending-on-who-you-ask Francisco Conceição, it seems unlikely that he’d be tasked with manning the flanks too often, if at all. Add in the fact that Spalletti’s been fairly vocal about wanting a more traditional number nine to play in his set up and the good money is on Sørloth leading the line if his services are secured.
The Numbers
Cards on the table: I’m not a numbers guy. I’m that kid that did well in math class but had to stay up late into the night trying to make sense of the homework to do so. I appreciate statistics and find they can provide clarity when evaluating players’ performances, often revealing fascinating trends, yet they always feel like a foreign language to me. With that in mind, please accept my humble attempt to quantify Sørloth’s most recent performances.
In the 2025-26 La Liga season, the big Norwegian scored 13 goals for Atletico, a somewhat dramatic return to earth after netting 20-plus goals the two prior campaigns. Of those, 12 came in his 20 starts (0.60 goals/start) and one in his 15 appearances from the bench (0.06 goals/substitute appearance). His overall rate of scoring of 0.59 goals per 90 is far closer to his starting numbers, indicating that his substitute appearances were likely very short, coming on too late in games to make a big impact and ultimately playing so few minutes off the bench that the dearth of goals from these appearances didn’t impact his per 90 numbers much.
He failed to register any goal contributions in four Copa Del Rey games, but had six goals and an assist in 14 Champions League games, with five goals and an assist in five starts (1.00 goals/start) and one goal in nine appearances from the bench (0.11 goals/substitute appearance), for an overall return of 0.88 goals per 90 (again indicating limited minutes off the bench despite the large number of appearances).
While the sample sizes are always smaller in the cup competitions, it’s noteworthy that the ratio between his starting and bench numbers are virtually identical between La Liga and the Champions League: in both, he scored one tenth as much when coming off the bench as compared to his starts. This indicates a player that needs a bit of time to find the rhythm of a game to be effective, rather than a super sub using fresh legs to terrorize weary defenders. It may also be an artifact of Diego Simeone’s famously defensive preferences, where late subs in games that the team is winning are likely given more conservative marching orders to maintain the scoreline rather than pushing to add to it.
Without going into as much depth for prior seasons, a cursory look at his scoring record reveals some inconsistency. The general trend has been upward, but with a lot of variation between seasons. Barring his high-flying year in Türkiye, his best seasons have been the past four in Spain. Outside of these seasons, he registered double digits in league goals only one other time, scoring ten in Denmark in 2017-18.
Depending on how you interpret that, it can be cause for either optimism or concern. On the one hand, he seems to be getting more prolific. But on the other, are these goal numbers mostly due to the more open nature of La Liga defences? And if that’s true, how will they translate to a much stingier Serie A?
The Treatment Table
Much has been said about Juventus’ track record when it comes to injuries. In the past, while aiming for players that had been written off by other teams but hopefully had more to give, the front office made some risky bets on players with less-than-ideal injury records, hoping they could buck the trend and play full seasons. All too often they did not (looking at you, Benedikt Höwedes, Aaron Ramsey, and Paul Pogba — to name a few). Two of the long-term absentees this past season were strikers, with Dusan Vlahovic’s adductor injury and other setbacks keeping him out for eighteen Seria A games, while Arek Milik’s seemingly endless string of injuries counted him out for all but eight.
Refreshingly, the treatment table is something with which Sørloth is not as familiar, having only missed 23 games for club and country in his lengthy career. The longest of those absences was a 25-day stretch in 2023-24, during which he missed seven games between Real Sociedad and Norway.
Compared to Vlahovic and Milik’s struggles, it almost sounds quaint!
The Budget
I think most Juventini would love to see the cupboards restocked with the best talents available on the market. After a nine-year run of titles that saw some of the biggest and best players in the world grace the Allianz Stadium and deliver glory on a silver platter, we’ve become accustomed to brilliance — or at least ruthless effectiveness. And, if the right cards are played and the results go our way, there may come a day we return to those lofty heights.
But it is not this day.
Shackled by Financial Fair Play restrictions, the club is dealing with limited funds on top of failing to qualify for the Champions League. The most talented players are often prohibitively expensive and generally looking to display those talents in UEFA’s premier club competition. At this point in our history, it would be tough to convince the very best to join.
Therefore, a shift in focus is necessary. Seeing as Juventus will be playing in the Europa League, a player with a proven track record in that competition would certainly come in handy. And the Norwegian certainly has the experience, notching thirteen goals in 38 appearances spread over five seasons. His career goals per 90 in that competition sits at about 0.61 and is this is, in fact, where his numbers show more consistency between seasons.
The Verdict
Is Sørloth a sure bet?
Well, no.
His numbers have been somewhat inconsistent over his career, and his last season saw a drop in production. Then again, he’s reached double digit goal totals in the past four campaigns, with twenty or more in two of those, and he’s shown an ability to produce in several leagues. While La Liga is not known for its defence, it’s not nothing to score twenty goals there. And even his reduced total last season was more than anyone on Juventus’ current roster could muster.
All things considered — the different dimension he’d bring, his experience as a journeyman player, his decent rate of productivity, and his apparent injury resistance — Alexander Sørloth seems like a transfer target that has the potential to be a success in Turin.
