As he talked with the Italian press following Juventus’ first friendly of the summer this past Saturday, head coach Luciano Spalletti confirmed what we all pretty much knew by now: “It’s true that we’re looking for a goalkeeper to be even more competitive.” It was a question about the situation regarding the status of the starter in goal from the previous two seasons, Michele Di Gregorio, and how the summer transfer activity (or maybe lack of it) is going to play into plans for the upcoming season.
We’ve known for quite a while that Aston Villa keeper Emi Martinez is Juventus’ clear-cut choice to replace Di Gregorio. However, that is going about as well as Juve’s attempt to sign Alisson Becker from Liverpool late in the spring — yeah, that’s why the Bianconeri pivoted to Martinez in the first place.
So, as the days go by and no movement on the Martinez front continues to be the norm, the day in which Juventus pivot again looks more and more likely. But who will that pivot be toward?
We know that Guglielmo Vicario of Tottenham has been the main name thrown out there as a backup option if the pursuit of Martinez ultimately ends up like Juventus’ attempt to sign Alisson. (You know, something that doesn’t happen despite all the rumors.) According to Sky Italia, Juventus CEO Giovanni Carnevali continues to be in contact with Parma regarding a potential deal for Japanese goalkeeper Zion Suzuki if things with Martinez don’t work out like it’s starting to trend toward.
There’s also been another name thrown out there besides Vicario and Suzuki: Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, who Juventus reportedly have interest in, according to Italian transfer reporter Nicolo Schira. Trubin was also included in a report about potential Martinez alternatives by English journalist Ben Jacobs last weekend.
So, yeah. Just like a lot of the other parts of Juventus’ current summer mercato, the process of getting a new starting goalkeeper in place of Di Gregorio has been anything but fast and swift. You can blame the change in front office leadership. You can blame former CEO Damien Comolli for his inability to close on signing Alisson before the Frenchman was ousted for Carnevali. You can blame a whole lot of things.
The bottom line is that Juventus still don’t have somebody to replace Di Gregorio, who is once again going to be in goal for Juventus second friendly of the summer on Saturday night against Standard Liège in Belgium.
We know that Suzuki would be expensive, with previous reports saying his price tag would be in the neighborhood of €30 million. It’s unclear how much Trubin would actually cost, but one has to think considering his age (25 years old in a week) and the club in which he currently plays for (Benfica), then a €30 million price tag feels like the bare minimum.
So yeah, if Juventus are hesitant to pay Aston Villa what they want for Martinez, it might be tough to get a goalkeeper like Suzuki or Trubin for something that’s considered an affordable transfer fee. Vicario is probably the most affordable option of the three previously mentioned, but there is a reason for that — and it’s pretty easy to figure out that Tottenham want to sell him this summer after he was not called up for their preseason tour in Australia.
