Juventus director Cristiano Giuntoli discusses a Gleison Bremer replacement and new Dusan Vlahovic contract, but hints there may be no future for Paul Pogba in Turin.
It kicks off at the Allianz Juventus Stadium in Turin at 11.30 UK time (10.30 GMT).
You can follow all the action as it happens from today’s five Serie A games on the Liveblog.
The Bianconeri had a tough few days after the chaotic Champions League 3-2 comeback win against RB Leipzig when down to 10 men, as Bremer was ruled out for the season by a torn anterior cruciate ligament and Nico Gonzalez for a month by a thigh strain.
With that in mind, will Juve go back onto the transfer market to get a Bremer replacement with free agents or wait until the January window?
“We are very sad for him personally, but also for all of us, because we lose a great player,” Giuntoli told Sky Sport Italia.
“The coach will have to make do with the other players in the squad, but he has a lot of quality to choose from. It is still very early to say, so we’ll see how the team reacts and if there are any opportunities in January.”
Giuntoli sees Vlahovic in Juventus future
Vlahovic had been criticised by fans and media, but has now bagged two consecutive braces and is becoming a leader. Is he discussing a new contract at Juve?
“He is a great player, we are enjoying his presence, we’re talking to his entourage and are confident for the future,” confirmed Giuntoli.
Thiago Motta has revamped the tactics of the squad and that means rotating the midfielders, whereas the forwards tend to remain the same.
“The coach uses his midfielders a lot, he opens up the pitch and that puts a lot of strain on these players, which is why he has so many options to rotate.”
That has also seen the return of Weston McKennie, who had been frozen out in pre-season and practically sold to Aston Villa, but now is a regular in the Juventus midfield.
“At the start we had a few problems for the contract renewal, then he had offers from a few teams, but in the end we reached an agreement and we’re happy,” explained Giuntoli.
This week it was announced that Pogba’s ban for failing a doping test has been reduced, so he will be available in 2025.
However, Juventus seem intent on terminating his contract by mutual consent regardless and Giuntoli’s comments do talk about him in the past tense.
“We have to wait for the definitive appeal result. Clearly, he was a great player, but has been out for a long time. We’ll wait for the CAS result.”
