Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli admits his club did receive an offer from Chelsea for star striker Dusan Vlahovic
Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli has revealed that Chelsea made an attempt to sign their star striker Dusan Vlahovic during the recent summer transfer window.
The 23-year-old player was strongly linked with a transfer to Stamford Bridge, as the Blues were actively seeking a new striker. Nevertheless, a move to West London didn’t happen, forcing the West Londoners to shift their focus towards Nicolas Jackson instead.
Although the former Villarreal player has showcased his potential, he has struggled to find the back of the net on a regular basis since joining the Premier League side. Interestingly, he has earned more yellow cards than he has scored goals this season.
Meanwhile, Vlahovic has had an exceptional start to the season. The Serbian star has appeared in six Serie A matches for Juventus this season, contributing four goals and one assist. Chelsea’s challenging start to the Premier League season might have taken a different turn if they had agreed to Juventus’ terms.
According to Bianconeri’s sporting director, Giuntoli, the Blues did send a formal proposal for the striker. However, they never raised their offer, and it was not deemed enough by the club’s board. He also mentioned that the English giant’s attempt to include Romelu Lukaku in the deal didn’t work out as well.
While speaking to La Repubblica (as quoted by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano), he said:
“We received formal proposal from Chelsea for Dusan Vlahovic, but it was not big enough. We were ready to accept in case of an important proposal, but Chelsea never raised the offer and the swap deal idea with Lukaku included collapsed”.
Chelsea are suffering from goal scoring woes this season, and things would have been really different if they had an experienced and lethal striker at their disposal.
Instead of signing a player that would fill in for Christopher Nkunku‘s injury, the Blues made huge signings in the midfield, but those players have contributed only two goals combined in the Premier League this season.
While Moises Caicedo has been a regular presence on the field, Romeo Lavia is still recovering from an injury that has delayed his debut. Pochettino’s side did bolster their attacking options by bringing in Cole Palmer and Deivid Washington. However, both players are still quite young, and the latter has yet to make his debut for the club.
On the other hand, Vlahovic‘s goal-scoring prowess has contributed to Max Allegri’s squad securing the third position in the Serie A standings. Meanwhile, Chelsea have managed to score only five goals in total across their first six matches in the ongoing campaign.
Todd Boehly would find it urgent to sign a player who could improve their numbers, as the manager is unable to find the ideal goal scorer in the team. Their attacking trio is still mediocre on paper compared to other top English clubs.
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Nkunku’s return might help them a bit, but they still need a proven player to lead the front line. The sooner they realise this, the better they will fare.