Aubameyang or Martial in, Ramsey out: What Juventus need in January transfer window

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 Dec 2021 11:47 CST
• 5 min read

Juventus are enduring one of the worst seasons in their modern history as they currently run the very real risk of failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Having only just sneaked into fourth place on the final day of last season, the Bianconeri are well off the pace this time around and find themselves down in seventh place – five points off the fourth Champions League spot.

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Juventus have two main targets in the January transfer window; to sign a central midfielder and a striker.

But given their dire financial situation – Juve required a €400 million capital injection in the summer from its parent company Exor due to debts – players will need to be sold before anyone can arrive.

Goalkeepers

There is unlikely to be any movement in the goalkeeping department at Juventus Stadium. Wojciech Szczesny is established as the number one and, while number two Mattia Perin wants more game time, he is likely to just see out his contract and leave on a free at the end of the season. Carlo Pinsoglio will stay put as third-choice goalkeeper.

Defenders

There is also unlikely to be much action when it comes to the defence. Juve only have four natural options at centre back, so there is a slight chance they could look for another backup option. But a central defender will realistically only arrive if Daniele Rugani is offloaded first and there are few interested parties in the Italian.

Alex Sandro has recently lost his left-back spot to Luca Pellegrini and Juventus would consider his sale if they can both make a good profit and also find a suitable replacement. But the Brazilian is now 30 and Juve will struggle to make enough money to use elsewhere that would make the sale worthwhile.

Juan Cuadrado should sign a new contract soon, with his current deal expiring at the end of June.

Midfielders

Juventus will almost certainly sign a central midfielder in January. The middle of the park has been a huge problem for the Bianconeri for up to five years now and it has been no different this time around.

First of all, Juve must offload one of their current central midfielders. With the exception of Manuel Locatelli, every other central midfielder currently at the club is deemed available for sale. These are Aaron Ramsey, Arthur Melo, Adrien Rabiot, Rodrigo Bentancur and Weston McKennie.

Juve will first try to sell Ramsey, with there being interest in the Premier League from Everton and Newcastle. But his hefty wage of €7m-a-season makes a sale difficult, and this is also the case for many of the others.

Ramsey and Arthur are Juve’s first choices to be offloaded – and the club would happily sell or loan out both. But if they are unable to, then Juventus will then work through the rest of the list.

In terms of which central midfielder comes in, Borussia Monchengladbach’s Denis Zakaria is the favourite to move to Turin. The Bianconeri are currently in negotiations with both the player and his club. With Zakaria’s contract expiring at the end of the season, the transfer fee will be affordable for Juve.

Monaco’s Aurélien Tchouaméni is also adored in Turin but perhaps out of Juve’s price range. There are other low-cost options. These include Axel Witsel of Borussia Dortmund and Corentin Tolisso of Bayern Munich, while Nicolo Rovella could also be brought back from his loan at Genoa.

Attackers

Along with a central midfielder, Juventus also plan to sign a goalscoring striker in January.

Juve’s attack has been their biggest weakness this season as they have scored only 25 goals in 18 Serie A games, which is the lowest in the top half of the division.

The dream signing is Serie A top scorer Dusan Vlahovic. But there are multiple top Premier League clubs who also want the Serbian, teams with far more money than the Bianconeri. A summer move is also more likely for Vlahovic.

More realistic will be a shorter-term option. Both Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Man Utd’s Anthony Martial are available in January and are loan options. Aubameyang is probably a better fit as he can play centrally, whereas Martial is only really comfortable coming from out wide.

Edinson Cavani and PSG’s Mauro Icardi also can’t be ruled out but Juventus could instead look to a more up-and-coming forward like Sassuolo Gianluca Scamacca.

In terms of attackers who could leave, Dejan Kulusevski is available for sale. Max Allegri has never taken to the Sweden winger, who has failed to live up to his wonderkid tag since arriving from Atalanta for €40m last year.

Both Arsenal and Tottenham are interested in Kulusevski and Juventus hope to reinvest that money in the aforementioned striker and central midfielder.

Youngster Kaio Jorge could also leave on loan and there is interest from a number of bottom-half Serie A teams.