Report: Dusan Vlahovic is Juve’s first choice if Cristiano Ronaldo leaves this summer

The big domino that could fall this summer is the future of Cristiano Ronaldo potentially leaving Juventus. The thing about it is this: We likely won’t know what Ronaldo is going to do until after this summer’s European Championship is over, therefore Juve’s got a lot of planning to do in case their highest-paid player decides to see out the final year of his contract or head off to Paris or somewhere else.

So, one could understand why Juventus are planning ahead in the case that Ronaldo does decide to leave Turin this summer. (Maybe then we’d get the answer as to where his supercars went!)

According to Tuttosport — I know, I know, I know! — on Sunday, Juventus have identified Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic as the club’s No. 1 target if Ronaldo does end up playing the 2021-22 season elsewhere. There are other names on the list like Arkadiusz Milik and maybe even Mauro Icardi, but Vlahovic fits the profile that Juventus reportedly want to begin this new cycle: he’s young, he’s already very good and they feel like he’s got plenty of room to grow after scoring 21 goals for a Fiorentina squad that struggled for much of the 2020-21 season.

Essentially, according to Tuttosport, this is a potential three-step process:

1. Juventus will soon confirm that Alvaro Morata will stay at the club for at least another season, as they pick up the option for another loan spell that will cost €10 million.
2. Get the answer from Ronaldo and his camp regarding his future.
3. And if he leaves, then try to sign a new striker, with Vlahovic being the leading candidate. (Or, if you would rather read something from La Gazzetta dello Sport, then the choice could be somebody like Man City’s Gabriel Jesus.)

Simple enough to figure out, right?

Sure, but getting that done if Ronaldo leaves is obviously going to be much more difficult.

Juventus making a big transfer with a player coming from Fiorentina seems a little hard to imagine simply knowing that the two clubs haven’t always done great business together. And according to Tuttosport’s report, Vlahovic could very well cost upwards of €60 million — which, in case you’re wondering, is potentially more than what Juve will end up paying Fiorentina for Federico Chiesa when it’s all said and done.

We know that Ronaldo leaving would free up money (on top of possible capital gains if he is sold for over €25 million, but you have to think Juventus will have to get creative again if they want to spend upwards of €60 million for a single player in this current transfer climate. That’s just the nature of the beast of this transfer window and market where Juve’s finances have taken a major hit for an entire season.