Juventus will try to sign Nemanja Matic in a player-plus-cash offer which would see Italy international Simone Zaza move in the other direction to reunite with his former Italy boss Antonio Conte.
Juventus have enjoyed a splendid transfer market so far and are willing to add one more midfielder to their squad to replace the departing Paul Pogba. Nemanja Matic has emerged as one of their targets, but Chelsea are reluctant to let the Serbian leave. Mediasports Premium claim that Juventus will try and tempt Chelsea into agreeing a deal by including Simone Zaza in their offer (via Football-Italia).
The Matic situation
Despite reports that the Serbian is a prominent part of Antonio Conte’s plans for the season, there is a considerable degree of speculation surrounding his future. After the arrival of N’Golo Kante from Leicester, Matic is no longer as crucial as he was to Chelsea’s starting lineup. Moreover, Oscar’s return to form might see Conte incorporate him in central midfield, like he did with Antonio Candreva at the Euros.
However, Matic will find it difficult to break into the Juventus starting lineup as well. Juventus have bought Bosnian midfield maestro Miralem Pjanic, who will be expected to start alongside Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio, once Marchisio comes back from injury. One major difference between current Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri and former boss Conte is his policy of squad rotation, which the latter is not too fond of.
The Zaza situation
Simone Zaza was surprisingly picked ahead of a lot of candidates for the Euros by Antonio Conte, despite a season spent mostly warming the bench at Juventus. His eccentric run up and subsequent penalty miss against Germany which cost Italy the game did not go down well with Conte. The Chelsea boss reportedly bashed Zaza’s head against the wall in the dressing room to demonstrate his fury.
Zaza already has a €25m offer from Wolfsburg, but the former Sassuolo striker is reluctant to leave Turin and is willing to fight for his place in the squad. His chances will be further reduced as Juve have brought in Gonzalo Higuain to replace Alvaro Morata, after the Spaniard departed for Real Madrid. Chelsea would be a slightly better destination for him as he would find it easier to compete for a spot with new signing Michy Batshuayi and Frenchman Loic Remy.