Report: Juve’s checked in with Barcelona regarding Arturo Vidal

Ever since Antonio Conte was named manager at Inter Milan, the greater of two evils that inhabit the San Siro has been linked with a move for former Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal. Some thought it might happen over the summer, especially because of the past success that both of them had together during their days in Turin.

Nothing happened over the summer, obviously.

Now, Inter are reportedly going after Vidal once again. And, maybe somewhat predictably knowing that Juve have sniffed around other potential Beppe Marotta deals now that he’s at Inter, Fabio Paratici has reportedly made some phone calls to Spain-based phone numbers.

According to Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio — yes, it’s that time of year again, folks — Juventus has been in contact with Barcelona management regarding the now-32-year-old Vidal, who’s future with the Spanish champions is anything but certain these days. Di Marzio reports that Inter and Barcelona are already in talks over a potential move for Vidal, who is reportedly unhappy with the playing time he’s getting this season. That hasn’t exactly stopped Juventus from checking and potentially adding their name to the

For English speakers, we have this from Di Marzio’s website:

The nerazzurri are focused on reuniting Arturo Vidal with Antonio Conte, the Chilean international would like to be sold and the parties are at work to reach an agreement.

[...]

As has happened on previous occasions, Juventus are looking to insert themselves in the negotiation and have contacted Barcelona in the last hours to gauge the situation. However Inter are serene as they have started the negotiations significantly earlier and have a good relationship with Barcelona.

Vidal, who moved to Barcelona two summers ago after a three-year stint with Bayern Munich, is clearly one of Inter’s big priorities during the January transfer window if you believe what the Italian press is telling us right now. Friday morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport went as far to say that there is a verbal agreement between Vidal and Conte, while also describing Juventus’ reported phone call to Barcelona to check in on a reunion of their own as “disturbing maneuvers.”

Now, obviously, we don’t exactly know how serious Juve’s call to Barcelona actually was. Was it one just to see if Vidal is in fact bound for Inter no matter? Was it to see if there would be any chance of somebody other than Inter signing him this January? Would Juventus even have the kind of money that Barcelona might want for Vidal even though he’s far from a spring chicken at this point in his career?

No matter what, though, it’s at least an interesting development that includes a Juventus team clearly in need of some kind of juice in the midfield sooner rather than later.