Turin is where it is all happening.
Juventus have always been canny operators in the transfer market. They have a knack of optimising income for departing players whilst at the same time preparing for their loss with a new batch of bargain captures.
Miralem Pjanic, Medhi Benatia, Mario Lemina and Dani Alves will all be wearing the famous Bianconeri strip next season, with rumours of exciting winger Marko Pjaca from Dinamo Zagreb and Santos’ Neymar/Drake hybrid Gabigol being next through the door.
They may even be joined by the very un-Juve like capture of Gonzalo Higuaín from Napoli for a whopping £79m – although it seems unlikely that such a prudent club would cough up quite so much for a 28-year-old.
Of course, it is expected that all these signings will be offset with some valuable departures. Many fans of the Old Lady fear that one or both of Paul Pogba and Leonardo Bonucci will be sacrificed for the obscene amounts that Manchester’s United and City respectively are willing to pay.
Sporting Director Fabio Paratici is frank about the situation, explaining that contingencies are in place if and when either flies the nest:
“All the big clubs know that their top players can receive tempting offers. At Juve, for example, we have the [Leonardo] Bonucci and [Paul] Pogba interest from many clubs and are prepared for possible replacements.”
Although neither sale is a formality, rumoured bids of €100m+ for Pogba and €60m for Bonucci would be very hard to resist. Most Juve fans are surprisingly pragmatic about the whole business. They appreciate the realities of the situation and trust the club hierarchy to act wisely.
That said, it is interesting to gage their opinions on potentially posing two of their most influential players. One would assume that they’d be far more loathed to relinquish a player of Pogba’s outstanding talents. At only 23 years of age, the sky is the limit in terms of what the player could go on to achieve and become.
It is after all natural to value attacking players more highly than their defensive equivalents. Their contribution to the team is more obvious and their impact far more thrilling.
However, it seems the Juve faithful would much rather the club sanction the sale of the mercurial Frenchman than let their defensive rock go. To them, Bonucci would be the greater loss – both as a fundamental member of the collective, and as a symbol of the football club.
The sense is that Pogba *may* one day go on to become the best player in his position in the world, but the 29-year-old defender already is. It is the player nicknamed the ‘Godfather’ by his Azzurri teammates that will be most sorely missed were he to relocate to Manchester.
As a Juve fan, I'd rather sell Pogba for 120m than Bonucci for 50m. #juve #Juventus
— Paul Rayment (@paulruk) July 7, 2016
I'd rather sell/lose two Pogba's than losing Bonucci. He must stay.
— Petrit (@Petrit_7) July 19, 2016
@juventusfcen you can sell pogba idec but if you touch bonucci, you're dead.
— Vince ⚫️⚪️ 🇱🇧 (@VintageDx) July 19, 2016
Might sound weird but i'd rather keep hold of Bonucci than Pogba.
Albeit Pogba is an absolute boss, but Bonucci, very few players like him.
— 𝓐𝓼𝓱 ⚫⚪ (@juve93addicks) July 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/assfacehole/status/751238676831563776
but between pogba n bonucci, i'd prefer bonucci. he's the symbol of juventus.
— faiz (@mhd_faiz) July 8, 2016
https://twitter.com/SnoopianH/status/751065068926803968
As i said earlier, i dont mind if Pogba leaves… but not Bonucci, please.
— HOTROD! (@Mr__Freak) July 7, 2016
Tbh I’d sell Pogba a million times rather than Bonucci.
(If receiving ~100 mil.)
— Simone Fagini (@Faegj) July 9, 2016
https://twitter.com/Omaralmighirbi/status/745141981492322304
