Real Madrid battle with Juventus for French star
FT Desk
- 30 Aug 2022 13:48 CDT
- 3 min read
Real Madrid and Juventus are locked in a battle for Nice star Amine Gouiri, who the former hope can be the successor to Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu.
Benzema is a frontrunner for October's Ballon d'Or after a glittering season which saw him score 44 goals in 46 games in all competitions as Real won La Liga and the Champions League.
But the Frenchman turns 35 in December and los Blancos have targeted Gouiri, a player 12 years his junior, as a potential successor.
😇 @aminegouiri is here to provide for you!
Here are the Nice number 11's 6️⃣ assists, he's been involved in 1️⃣5️⃣ goals in @Ligue1UberEats this season 👌#OGCNice #Gouiri pic.twitter.com/pP9NfMcSIg— OGC Nice 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@ogcnice_eng) January 20, 2022
Gouiri, like Benzema, is a Lyon academy graduate. He has turned out for Nice for the past two seasons but was left out of their 3-0 loss to Marseille on Sunday after persuading coach Lucien Favre to bench him with the transfer window closing soon.
French Connection
Nice are holding out for a €30m fee for a player who had 22 goal involvements for them last season, which is well inside Real's budget. There is optimism he would join with fellow Frenchmen Benzema, Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduard Camavinga and Ferland Mendy already at the club.
However, l'Equipe report that Juventus have also entered the fray.
"Nice would be willing to negotiate a €30m deal," they write. "Juventus have been in touch with Nice advisor Alain Migliaccio in recent hours. The Italian giants have always loved youth internationals and French ones in particular.
"They would be willing to submit a loan offer with an option to buy."
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From Michel Platini to Zinedine Zidane, Juve have a rich history of French players lighting up Serie A.
Paul Pogba returned to the Old Lady on a free transfer from Manchester United this summer before picking up a knee injury. Adrien Rabiot and Marley Aké complete the French contingent at Juventus Stadium, although the former was close to joining United recently.
