Tottenham pair Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Dejan Kulusevski
Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City will face approaches from Juventus in the near future, as the Italian giants are reportedly eyeing midfielders including Thomas Partey and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Juve’s options in central midfield have been weakened by Paul Pogba’s provisional ban for failing a drugs test, which could be be extended to four years if he is unable to overturn it. As Pogba is 30 years old, a ban of that length could see him hang up his boots early.
The Bianconeri have also lost fellow midfielder Nicolo Fagioli this season. He will be out of action for seven months after being found guilty of betting breaches at a similar time to Newcastle United star Sandro Tonali.
Juve boss Max Allegri does still have Adrien Rabiot, Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie available for selection. However, the absences of Pogba and Fagioli have forced him to call up the inexperienced Hans Nicolussi Caviglia.
With Juve sat second in the table, two points behind leaders Inter, Allegri knows that signing an extra midfielder in January would go a long way towards helping his side regain the Serie A title.
And according to Foot Mercato, the Turin-based outfit will head to the Premier League to solve their issue. It is claimed that Juve have held talks with Arsenal over the potential capture of Ghana international Partey.
The 30-year-old has failed to make an impact for Arsenal this season, having played just five times in all competitions as a result of groin and hamstring problems.
Instead, Mikel Arteta is mainly using the likes of Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, Jorginho and Kai Havertz in his midfield.
Juventus in frame to sign Partey, Hojbjerg or Phillips
Arsenal may end up allowing Partey to head to Juve as they are in the market for a new midfielder themselves. The Gunners are huge fans of Douglas Luiz, though that will be a tough deal to complete as Aston Villa have no intention of selling him.
Given Partey’s injury woes, plus the fact he will represent Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations in January if fit, Juve might be better off landing a different Prem midfielder.
And that is where Hojbjerg of Tottenham comes in. Foot Mercato state that Juve have already discussed his potential move with Spurs, presumably when sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli travelled to London recently.
Hojbjerg would be happy to negotiate a Spurs exit as Ange Postecoglou has placed him behind Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur in his midfield pecking order.
Plus, Hojbjerg wants to challenge himself at the highest level wherever possible, and Juve would give him the chance to fight for major silverware.
Juve are not alone in admiring the Dane, however. On Friday, it was revealed that struggling Dutch giants Ajax are also in the mix to snare him.
Third on Juve’s list of potential Prem signings is Man City outcast Kalvin Phillips. The England international has failed to usurp Rodri in Pep Guardiola’s midfield, and this has limited him to just 808 minutes of playing time across the last two seasons. That works out at around nine full matches.
Juve know City will be open to negotiating Phillips’ exit as he barely features in Guardiola’s plans. But first, they will need to convince the 27-year-old on playing outside of England for the first time in his career.
On November 20, TEAMtalk exclusively revealed that out of the Prem options available to Juve, they are most likely to sign Phillips from City.
