Reports: Juventus have opened talks with Sassuolo for Gianluca Scamacca

As we’ve noticed for much of the 2020-21 season, when one of Juventus’ three natural strikers gets hurt, the options available to Andrea Pirlo become even more limited than they already are. For much of the season, Pirlo has only had two strikers available to him, and that’s going to be the case for the next few weeks at least as Paulo Dybala recovers from the injury he suffered over the weekend against Sassuolo.

So, you can understand why the club has an eye on a fourth striker during the January window.

As was reported by multiple Italian outlets on Monday, Juventus’ search for said fourth striker could involve the team they just played over the weekend. According to the likes of Goal Italia’s Romeo Agresti and others in Italy, Juventus has started talks with Sassuolo for 22-year-old striker Gianluca Scamacca, who is currently spending the 2020-21 season on loan at Genoa. Yes, the same Genoa team that Juventus played a few weeks ago and will face Wednesday night in the round of 16 of the Coppa Italia.

Just where those talks may be at depends on who you read. According to Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio on Monday night, Juventus and Sassuolo would have talks over the next few days. Come Tuesday afternoon, Alfredo Pedulla in La Gazetta dello Sport was reporting that Juventus and Sassuolo were close to a deal for Scamacca, with the Italian champions very much intent on trying to sign him relatively soon.

Also depending on where you read an update about Juventus and Sassuolo reportedly negotiating this deal is how much it might cost in the end. The agreement amongst all of the reports is that this will initially be a loan deal with an obligation to buy either this summer or next. Some reports say that it could be within the €15 million to €20 million range, while Pedulla’s report earlier Tuesday suggests the fee to make the deal permanent could be as much as €25 million.

Scamacca, who turned 22 years old on Jan. 1, has cooled off over the past six weeks after an impressive run of form in October. The young Italian has not scored since Genoa’s 3-1 win over Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia on Nov. 30, a game where he scored a pair of goals. Since then, he’s gone eight appearances without a goal.

But at 6-foot-5, Scamacca would provide Juventus with a different kind of look as compared to Alvaro Morata. And he fits the kind of profile that Juve has tried to add to their roster over the last couple of transfer windows — young and the kind of financial transaction where the bulk of the fee could be put off for a summer or two.