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It's the international break, and therefore papers all around Europe are grasping for things to write about. One of those means linking a Juventus midfielder of their choosing with a move to the Premier League and all the cash that comes along with it. Since Paul Pogba has signed a brand new contract a few weeks back, the Arturo Vidal-to-Manchester United talk has taken a month or two off, so that leaves one midfielder left to deal with.
Claudio Marchisio, come on down!
But this time there's a twist to the usual "Uh oh, Claudio's linked with another English club again!" kind of talk. What is it? Well, go ahead and read about it:
The midfielder's current deal runs until 2016, but rumours abound that the Bianconeri will offer the Italian international a deal to keep him in Turin for the rest of his career, after interest from the English Premier League in recent days.
According to the Turin-based daily, the move has in part been motivated by interest from both Manchester United and Arsenal, with the Gunners having made particularly strong enquiries, sounding out Marchisio about a potential move through a third party in recent days.
Tuttosport reports that the Old Lady will offer Marchisio a deal worth €3.5m per season until 2019, an improvement on the 28-year-old's current wage of €3m each campaign.
(Source: Football Italia)
Take the interest from over in England out of it for a second no matter what the Italian press wants to tell us right now. Hell, take the 'Tuttosport = BS' element out of it, too, because we know even though they are who they are, they do get things right from time to time.
Here's what some people are actually thinking right now: Should Juventus be making an effort to keep Marchisio under contract for as long as possible?
Here's what I'm thinking about what they're throwing out there: Why, yes, yes they should. With a contract expiring the summer after next, it's about that time that the club and the player's representative to start talking extension — no matter the fact that Marchisio is a key component in his hometown team's setup.
The rumored extension would mean Marchisio, who 29 in the middle of January, will be signed through 2019 just like Pogba. Throw in Vidal's new contract that he signed back in December and this for of the M-V-P midfield will be locked up for the foreseeable future. To me, that sounds like a nice thing to have happen. No more worries about salaries and everything that comes along with (sometimes) crazy football agents.
So add Claudio Marchisio to the list of rumored contract extension recipients. It must be a mile long now. Gotta go see where the hell this thing start anyway. At least with Pogba signing a new deal a few weeks back we were able to cross somebody off of it.
