Manchester City and Real Madrid ‘interested’ in €80m-rated Juventus midfielder – report

Manchester City are the latest club to show an interest in Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanić, Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport claimed on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old has been one of Serie A’s best midfielders for a number of years, and he joined Juventus from Roma in 2016 for a fee of €32million, since when he has won two Serie A titles and made the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League Team of the Season.

And it is claimed by Tuttosport that there is a ‘duel’ between Man City and Real Madrid over the 28-year-old technical wizard, with Barcelona also watching developments closely.

Juventus’ stance is consistent – they will allow any player who wants to leave to go if they get their valuation, as they proved when sanctioning Paul Pogba’s world-record sale to Manchester United in 2016. They value Bosnian international Pjanić at €80million (£70million).

The rumour seems tenuous at best, with City closing in on Napoli ace Jorginho, who could arrive in a matter of days after talks accelerated today.

Jorginho’s arrival would mean City are very well stocked on central midfielders, with the 26-year-old replacing Yaya Touré, who is out of contract in June.

City may be thinking of a replacement for Fernandinho, 33, in the long run but that is likely to wait until a future transfer window. German midfielder Ilkay Gündoğan has been linked with a move to Inter recently, and although that seems to be little more than speculation at this point, were he to leave another midfielder could then arrive.

With 5 goals, 8 assists and a 90% pass accuracy in Serie A this season, Pjanić certainly ranks among Europe’s elite midfielders, hence the likes of Madrid and Barcelona being linked, but it would be very surprising were he to arrive at the Etihad Stadium this summer, with no current plans to buy two central midfielders.

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