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The eight reasons why Pjanic-Juve deal is not impossible
As CM.com editor in chief Stefano Agresti points out, there are eight reasons why the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s summer move to the J Stadium is not an impossible deal.
PALLOTTA – AS Roma’s president has excluded that both Pjanic and Nainggolan will leave the club in the summer. He knows he can’t be sure about that, especially because the former Lyon starlet has a € 38 million release clause and can join any club willing to trigger it.
MAROTTA – Juventus’s CEO has confirmed that he had never negotiated Pjanic’s transfer, but he has not excluded a future move of the Old Lady for the 26-year-old playmaker. According to our sources both Massimiliano Allegri and Marotta like Pjanic and would like to bring him to the J Stadium.
PJANIC – As previously mentioned, the player has recently revealed he would be open to a future Olimpico exit. “I still have two years left on my contract, but in football you never know”, he said in March.
AS ROMA FINANCIAL STRUGGLES – The capitolines need to sell at least one big name in order to respect the UEFA FFP rules. Even if Walter Sabatini has suggested he has a plan to keep both Pjanic and Nainggolan, it seems difficult that AS Roma could rack up € 40 million from the sales of Doumbia, Ljajic, Iturbe and all those players out on loan.
RELEASE CLAUSE - € 38 million are a lot, but not too much for a top-class midfielder like Pjanic. However, with Juventus and AS Roma which are believed to be on good terms, the Old Lady would try not to trigger the player’s release clause, but open negotiation talks instead, trying to close the deal for a fee around € 35-40 million. AS Roma need to cash in those money before the end of June in order not to break the FFP rules.
SPALLETTI PREFERS NAINGGOLAN – It is no secret that one between Pjanic and Nainggolan will leave the Olimpico in the summer and if Spalletti had to pick one, he would keep Nainggolan, selling the Bosnia and Herzegovina star. The former Zenit gaffer is an admirer of Nainggolan and the Belgium International’s performances have been great since Spalletti’s appointment.
VERSATILE MIDFIELDER – The 26-year-old can play both as the team’s playmaker replacing Claudio Marchisio who will be still injured in the first part of the 2016-17 campaign and as halfback in place of Sami Khedira or Paul Pogba. His acquisition will boost Juventus’ technical level and will be an upgrade of the Old Lady’s midfield.
SERIE A EXPERIENCE – Pjanic has plenty of Serie A experience. He knows the Italian league very well and investing money on him would be less risky than paying the same money for a player like Valencia’s André Gomes who would have to adapt to Serie A at the beginning of his experience.
Lorenzo Bettoni @lorebetto, adapted from an article by Stefano Agresti @SteAgresti
