Add David Neres to the list of reported targets if the Ángel Di Maria deal falls through

Juventus are still waiting for a final answer from Ángel Di Maria. That may come in the next few days, it may come in the next few weeks, it’s still relatively unknown when the 34-year-old Argentine will give his OK to join Juventus or another club that could provide the kind of situation in which he so desires.

Because of the relative uncertainty — at least that is the kind of picture the Italian press is currently painting — the Plan Bs and Plan Cs are starting to be thrown out there.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio and the rest of the crew at Sky Sport Italia — as well as Portuguese outlet A Bola (via Tuttosport) — Juventus is expanding its web to cover all possible options if the Di Maria deal doesn’t go through. First there was the reported talks with Sassuolo for Domenico Berardi, now you can add David Neres to the list of wingers who have been linked with Juve over the last couple of weeks. The 25-year-old Neres is best known for his time at Ajax — yes, he was there during that Champions League quarterfinal matchup — but since signed with Shakhtar Donetsk during the January transfer window in a deal worth around €15 million after his role with the Dutch champions saw a decrease in playing time.

As you know, a little more than a month later, everything in Ukraine changed for the worse.

Benfica are also reportedly interested in signing Neres this summer as Neres looks to find a new club amidst the complete uncertainty that the Russian invasion in Ukraine has brought to just about every aspect of life in the country.

Neres, like Di Maria and Berardi, is a somebody who pretty much always plays on the right, which seems to be a theme with wingers Juventus has been linked to this summer even though there is the very well-known fact that Federico Chiesa is trying to get health and match fit for the early weeks of the 2022-23 season in September. During his time in the Netherlands, Neres finished with 47 goals and 41 assists in 179 games at Ajax.