Juventus have reportedly set a price tag of €40 million for their Turkish wonderkid, Kenan Yildiz, amid interest from Manchester United and Liverpool.
According to a report on Calciomercato.it, Juventus have not entirely shut the door on Manchester United and Liverpool’s pursuit of Turkish teenage sensation Kenan Yildiz, but they have set the bar pretty high with a €40 million asking price.
The 18-year-old German-born attacker made the switch to Juventus after spending a decade in the Bayern Munich academy. He was promoted to the senior ranks for the 2023–24 campaign under Massimiliano Allegri and made his senior debut for the Old Lady on the opening day of the season, coming off the bench in a 3-0 win over Udinese.
The teenager has since made another four top-flight appearances for Allegri’s side. And while he is yet to open his account in terms of goals and assists, he has dazzled scouts across Europe in recent months and has seen his reputation soar following some excellent performances for the Turkish national team, having already earned three senior caps and scoring once.
Liverpool are showing an interest in the potential transfer of the highly-rated Juventus youngster, with sporting director Jorg Schmadtke said to be urging head coach Jurgen Klopp to sign Yildiz in January. He views the Turkish star as a facilitating striker, similar to what Roberto Firmino used to do for the Reds. Yildiz plays as a support striker but can also work on the right or left of a trident attack, as he is two-footed.
However, it now seems that Manchester United are determined to beat the Merseyside club to Yildiz’s signature, as the Red Devils view him as a potential replacement for expensive flop Jadon Sancho, who remains frozen out at Old Trafford amid an ongoing dispute with manager Erik ten Hag and has been earmarked for a January exit amid strong interest from Borussia Dortmund and Juventus.
Juventus have shown a strong commitment to the youngster and have him tied down on a contract that runs until 2027. They also rejected several loan offers for Yildiz over the summer, and there were several reports over the last few days suggesting that they would not even listen to approaches from the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool.
However, Calciomercato now claims that the Bianconeri would be ready to offload their jewel if a huge offer were to be received in the upcoming transfer window. They have set the valuation at €40 million, which will provide them with an astonishing pure profit given that he arrived from Bayern Munich as a free agent in the first place.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if United, or indeed, Liverpool, are willing to match Yildiz’s €40 million price tag in January.
