Serie A giants Juventus are considering a bid for long-term target Oscar, who currently appears to be out of favour at Chelsea, in the January transfer window.
The Brazilian has been a Juventus target since he broke onto the European scene with Chelsea in 2012. After arriving from Internacional in the summer of 2012 for a reported £19.35 million, the Brazilian international has failed to perform consistently at the top level.
According to Transfermarketweb, Serie A giants Juventus are keen on making a January bid for the 25-year-old. The departure of Paul Pogba to Manchester United has proved to be costly, as the Bianconeri were unable to bring in adequate reinforcements to their midfield.
Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri has been chasing a trequartista for some time now in order to add to his side’s creativity. With Claudio Marchisio having just returned from a long spell on the sidelines, the Italian champions will be keen to add to their depth in midfield and given his young age, Oscar could be the perfect long-term purchase for them.
In February this year, it was reported that Chelsea had turned down a massive £75 million bid for Oscar from Chinese side Jiangsu Suning. In April, it was rumoured that Juventus were interested in the number 8 and would try to acquire him in the summer. Likewise, their rivals Inter Milan and most recently AC Milan too have been linked with moves for him, with the Rossoneri rumoured to be planning a £39 million January bid.
In nearly 200 appearances for the club over 4 seasons, Oscar has scored 38 goals for Chelsea — not the best return for a player of his calibre. His talent is undoubted, but his failure to perform at a high level regularly has often seen him provoke the ire of the Chelsea fans and has seen him constantly linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge. While there was a lot of uncertainty regarding his future in the summer, Antonio Conte decided to retain him in the squad and give him a chance.
He has made 7 appearances so far this season in all competitions, but is yet to register a goal, having made only one assist. Earlier in the season, Oscar was chosen over Cesc Fabregas more often by Antonio Conte for his work-rate. After a few positive results at the start, Chelsea failed to get a single win in September and the Italian decided to change his system.
Since making the switch to the 3-4-3 formation, N’golo Kante and Nemanja Matic have run the game from the heart of Chelsea’s midfield. Kante has established himself as Chelsea’s most important player and a reinvigorated Matic is now joint top with Dmitri Payet and Kevin De Bruyne on the Premier League list of assists.
With Oscar only just having returned from compassionate leave and Fabregas out with a muscle injury, it is yet to be seen how they feature in this new formation when given the chance.
