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For the first time in weeks Wednesday, Juventus were on home soil. Ah, Italy, how they have certainly missed you. And what have we also missed? The essential and what seems like a mandatory Beppe Marotta press briefing that comes along with this kind of Juventus function where all of the club's management are in one spot at the same time.
Family match day became media day for Marotta. So basically it was another edition of "Hey, let's ask Beppe about those dang Arturo Vidal rumors, okay?" Or something along those lines.
Yeah, Marotta discussed Vidal's status up to the very second of his meeting with the media. He was asked about those never-ending rumors and then mentioned how stupid they continue to be at Juventus' family match. He also addressed the contract statuses of legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and 21-year-old midfield dynamo Paul Pogba, who have both been rumored to be in talks with the club for new deals over the course of the past few weeks.
"Buffon? We are extremely grateful towards him. There is a blank contract ready, we'll meet when he wants to. He'll stay here until he wants. Pogba? We started negotiating with his agent, we hope to reach a positive conclusion in a short period of time."
(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)
Blank contracts, eh? Sounds like a nice deal, doesn't it? I wonder where I can sign up for one of those if it's possible.
The best thing of it all: Marotta wants to get Pogba signed to a shiny new deal in the near future, which will obviously see him make a lot more money than he is making right now. And why shouldn't he? Pogba is always going to be a sought after player no matter what his contract status currently is because of what he brings to the table. Still, getting the contract situation done and out of the way will be a pretty important step for both the club itself and Pogba, who has given plenty of indications in the past that he's quite happy in Turin.
We've definitely heard a lot about new contracts this summer. And for a lot of different players, too. There's Pogba and Buffon. There's Stephan Lichtsteiner, Kwadwo Asamoah and Martin Cáceres. There's Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini. Basically any important player who has a contract expiring in the next couple of years has been rumored at the very least to be on the brink of getting a new deal to remain in bianconero.
Hey, if it's contract signing season at Juventus, that's fine with me. Might as well start with your captain and one of your biggest assets, right? Makes perfect sense.
