Reports: Juventus in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Timothy Weah

Juventus currently has the son of one former Serie A on its roster in Federico Chiesa. It looks as though they’re trying to double that number with who they could be signing in relatively short order.

According to multiple reports out of Italy from the likes of Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio and Fabrizio Romano, Juventus are in advanced talks regarding a deal for Lille wide man Timothy Weah, the son of former AC Milan star George Weah. The deal, the two Italian sources say, would cost Juve in the neighborhood of €12 million, with there also being rumors that they will try to potentially insert a player into the deal — most notably Denis Zakaria — to try and bring down the fee for the 23-year-old.

Juve and the younger Weah have already agreed to person terms, per Romano.

While he is very much somebody who plays in a wide attacking role for the United States men’s national team, let’s just check on where Weah played during his 18 Ligue 1 starts this past season:

• Eight at right back
• Six at left back
• Six on the right wing
• Two as a false nine

That, folks, is a way of saying that he is versatile at a relatively young age. He is known as one of the United States’ big three up front now that Flo Balogun has decided on his senior national team, that is true. But, at the club level, he’s showing that he can be a jack-of-all-trades and do so as somebody who can play pretty much anywhere out wide no matter which side of the field it is.

Considering Juventus’ roster is still very much in flux right now — namely, the status of Chiesa as the leading wide man who attracting interest from the Premier League and other big-money clubs — having a versatile option who can play both in defense and in attack along the lines of what Juan Cuadrado has done the last three or four years is a smart way to go. The fullback/wingback department is in need of upgrades, and Weah is somebody who can do that.

The stats don’t jump off the page, but he has something that not a whole lot of Juve’s other wide men do — speed, the desire to take on his man and beat him and just the ability to create things for himself and his teammates on his own. That’s something Juve need more of and need to address as soon as they can no matter what Chiesa’s status ends up being.