Report: Juventus negotiating with Pescara for striker Gianluca Lapadula

With the final day of the transfer window here, it's pretty safe to say that Juventus making any major move isn't going to be happening. And with that, a lot of the rumors these days are more about help for the future rather than bringing in players who can provide an impact virtually from the get-go.

One of those moves to be made now but are meant for down the road has to do with Pescara striker Gianluca Lapadula. So instead of me rambling about it much longer, here is more of the pertinent information, courtesy of Gianluca Di Marzio:

Juventus are insisting and would like to add Gianluca Lapadula for June. There was new contacts made with Pescara today and there will be others tomorrow. Napoli and Chievo are also interested in the player. Pescara won't be letting him go for anything under €5 million and are holding strong.

Juventus would like to acquire him right now, then leave him finish the year at Pescara before bringing him in from next summer on. Lapadula is a Torino native and previously played in the Juventus youth squad ranks.

There has been a small amount of chatter that Lapadula would be a piece to the puzzle to acquire a bigger target of the club come the summer transfer window. Maybe that involves somebody like Empoli playmaker Riccardo Saponara, but surely that won't be happening during the winter transfer window, so no need to try and go connecting all of those silly dots right away.

Lapadula, who has bounced around the lower levels of Italian football — as well as a season on loan in Slovenia — the last five years while being owned by Parma, leads Serie B in goals.The former Juve youth product, who turns 26 years old in just a few days on Feb. 7, has found the back of the net 14 times in 23 games (all starts), which is currently the top total in Serie B this season. This is after a season where he scored 22 goals in 40 games with Teramo down in Lega Pro.