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Ever since Beppe Marotta came out and said that Juventus are working toward signing a trequartista in the winter transfer window, the names — and subsequent reports of contacts being made — have come relatively consistently.
And now that we're officially in January, it's not like they are going to stop with no notice.
According to both La Stampa and Sky Sport's Gianluca Di Marzio, Juventus have in fact contacted Galatasaray midfielder Wesley Sneijder to see if the former Inter playmaker is interested in coming to Turin. He joins a list of rumored targets like Bayern Munich's Xherden Shaqiri and former Bologna midfielder Alessandro Diamanti in the hunt for a trequartista during the January transfer window.
But unlike the situation with Shaqiri where it's clearly a player looking to move clubs to get more playing time, Sneijder's situation in Turkey is a little more ...interesting, according to Di Marzio's latest report on the inquiry:
The deal could only be completed as a straight sale. A factor in Juve's favor is that Sneijder has yet to receive his last 2-3 paychecks from Galatasaray- the situation is evolving.
Translation: Galatasaray need cash. And unloading a highly-paid player like Sneijder would not only allow the club to save money on a salary, but also get some cash with a potential sale.
That's probably a very good reason are going after somebody like Sneijder despite the fact that he's 30 years old and cup-tied for the rest of the season. (Then again, the second part can also be said about Shaqiri, but it's a little different with him still being so young and full of promise.)
Or maybe Juventus just deem Sneijder as a positive piece to add to the puzzle — one that has just about everything they need to win another Serie A title outside of a natural trequartista to play behind the strikers. Sneijder has proven can do that in the past, but who knows how effective he can be compared to when he was one of the best players in Serie A during his days with Inter.
Either way, this isn't the last we've heard of Juventus' interest in Wesley Sneijder. And that's not just because the first of January has just arrived.
