Go back to seven months ago. Juventus were in the hunt for a trequartista and there were a handful of names being thrown around as possible options. Some of us around here were fearing Juve signing former Inter No. 10 Wesley Sneijder, others wanted Juve to go after somebody who could project toward the long term as well as helping right off the bat.
As we know, a move never happened, with Beppe Marotta never really finding a deal that was all too appealing to his ever-so-shrewd business sense . One of the biggest names was that of Borussia Dortmund playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has been linked with a potential move to Juventus over the past 12 months or so.
And guess who's being thrown about again as a Juve target? You guessed it ... Mkhitaryan.
Considering the difficulties to land Julian Draxler, Juventus is looking for alternatives at the trequartista position. The bianconeri contacted Real Madrid and Chelsea about Isco and Oscar respectively, but neither player is available. So Juventus went back after one of their targets from last January- Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Coach Allegri is on board with acquiring him, but after his strong start of the season it won't be easy to convince Dortmund to sell him. Juventus is willing to offer €20 million and tomorrow they will meet with Mino Raiola, the player's agent. After Alex Sandro, Juventus is looking to add an offensive midfielder.
(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)
Well, well. Familiar names all over the place.
No Isco. No Oscar. The way it looks right now, no Julian Draxler, either. So, in a way, it makes sense that Juventus are reportedly looking back at Mkhitaryan as a potential option this summer. But just as is the case with Draxler, signing Mkhitaryan right now won't be easy. By all accounts, he is thriving under Dortmund's new manager, Thomas Tuchel, as compared to being somewhat lost in the shuffle last season with Jurgen Klopp.
If the price tag above is actually in the ballpark of what Juventus is thinking of offering, then so be it. Juve obviously want a No. 10-type player on their roster by the time the summer transfer window closes. And based on how the Draxler negotiations have gone -- hint, not very well at all -- you have to wonder how much of that €20 million Juve will reportedly offer is actually a full-on transfer fee and not some sort of silly transfer fee plus bonuses combination.
But that's just me being cynical. I guess a couple months' worth of transfer rumors and no results will do that to a guy.