Gazzetta: Juventus eyeing a last-minute swoop for Radja Nainggolan

With Luca Marrone all but certain to make his co-ownership deal to Serie A new boys Sassuolo official at some point on Monday, Juventus' midfield could use another body to fill the void. I mean, would you rather have somebody like Simone Padoin step in case there was an injury/suspension or two going on instead?

My point exactly.

Enter long-linked-to-Juventus Cagliari midfielder Radja Nainggolan.

Gazzetta claim Juve made a "final assault" - as though signing a player were like storming barricades - for Radja Nainggolan last night

— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) September 2, 2013

Nainggolan has been reportedly catching the eye of Beppe Marotta's (no pun intended) for the last couple of summers. And with Marrone mere hours from completing his reported move to Sassuolo, the logic of acquiring a central midfielder is there. While Marrone didn't play much the past two seasons, he provided cover. And with that cover, it meant that Juventus were set in the center of the midfield.

But now that he's all set to get a massive boost in playing time at Sassuolo, the only natural center midfielder Juve have behind the assumed starting MVP trio of Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo is a certain Frenchman by the name of Paul Pogba. And with Marchisio currently being injured (or anybody not available to Antonio Conte for that matter), when Marrone leaves, there's no cover.

Get what I'm saying? Good, good.

Whether or not Nainggolan would arrive for a straight sum of money or on a Marotta Special — loan with option to buy next summer — is obviously not known at this point. Either way, it makes some kind of sense to go for the 25-year-old Belgian international midfielder. Well, if Juve aren't going to be paying a huge chunk of money for him, that is.