Report: Juventus re-ignite interest in signing Empoli's Riccardo Saponara

The way the transfer rumor mill works, I guess it was only a matter of time before something like what I'm about to write about actually happened. In a way, the rumor mill is predictable that way. As much as new names pop up, some of the same folks always seem to pop up when the summer months really start approach. (Or if you work for Tuttosport where Edinson Cavani rumors are mandatory every single freakin' day.)

With that said: Welcome back into the transfer rumor fold, Riccardo Saponara! You've been missed! (Well, maybe by some, who knows about everybody else.)

I say that, because of this little nugget of reportage we got on Tuesday:

A name that has been made for this summer is Riccardo Saponara, who they had tracked in January. Saponara is very interesting as he is young and Italian. The investment required to sign the starlet would be 15 million euros, but at the moment he is not considered a priority. The Empoli player is also being courted by Arsenal and Monaco, who are ready to accelerate for the young Italian.

(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)

I guess wondering what is causing Saponara to not be considered a priority right now is a little too much inside information right now. Maybe that's because Juve are trying to snatch up somebody like André Gomes before doing any other transfer-related business. I don't know if that's true, but that's just me talking out loud here, people, so don't judge here me.

But back to Saponara for a second.

He was a reported transfer target in January, and he's back on the radar again. He's young-ish at 24 years old, he's Italian and he's built up plenty of Serie A experience with Empoli the last two seasons. Is he a potential world-class talent that can play trequartista? Nah, probably not. But the guy's got skills, that's for sure, and he would obviously fill a need that Juve have been searching for ever since Max Allegri took over as manager.