Report: Juventus open talks over possible Corentin Tolisso signing

It was four years ago that Juventus tried to sign Corentin Tolisso when he was very much an up-and-coming midfielder at Lyon. That summer, in 2017, Tolisso ended up going to Bayern Munich, where things haven’t exactly been all that easy at a club that has had some of the best midfielders in the game come through its ranks.

Now, in 2021, Tolisso is 26 years old and at a bit of a career crossroads as he takes part in Euro 2020 with France.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Sport Italia on Monday night, that could mean Tolisso — who has a year remaining on his current deal with Bayern Munich — is on his way to a new club. And, per Di Marzio, Juventus has begun contacts over a possible move for Tolisso this summer. While Di Marzio says that Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli remains Juventus’ top choice to address the midfield struggles of the last couple of years — AS HE SHOULD BE, BY THE WAY — Tolisso is an option that the Bianconeri’s management team, most notably their new manager, knows quite well already from their previous pursuit of him.

Di Marzio adds that Juve’s pursuit of Tolisso has already received Allegri’s approval.

Tolisso, one of the many young midfield transfer targets from yesteryear that Juventus never ended up signing, joined Bayern Munich in 2017 for a transfer fee of €41.5 million. Since then, he has struggled for consistent playing time as well as suffering a torn knee ligament during the 2018-19 season that kept him out for six months.

This past season, Tolisso appeared in 16 Bundesliga games, playing a total of 781 minutes. He scored two goals in all competitions, one in the Bundesliga and one in the Champions League. Tolisso also missed three months this past season with a torn tendon injury.

Di Marzio’s report doesn’t say that if a possible Tolisso acquisition would impact Juve’s chase of Locatelli. And, for all we know, they could very well be looking at Tolisso as a low-ish cost kind of option to fill the void of somebody like Aaron Ramsey who is expected to leave this summer as well as add Locatelli to the fold. With only one year left on his contract and coming off another season where he dealt with injuries, Bayern would have a tough time justifying a transfer fee that comes even remotely close to what they paid for Tolisso four years ago.