Juve close on Vlahovic

Reports suggest that Juventus are closing in on the signing of Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina on a permanent deal.

It had been thought that the two clubs would structure a deal whereby Juventus would loan Vlahovic first with an obligation to buy but it appears to be a straight-forward purchase of the Serbian.

The 21 year-old showed promise in the youth set-up at Partizan Belgrade but with just three goals in 27 matches across all competitions, it was a surprise that Fiorentina picked him up.

21 goals in 37 games in Serie A last season has been followed up by 17 goals in 21 games so far this year for I Viola.

There are question marks over Vlahovic and some believe him to be technically limited but a goal scoring record like that has given many clubs like Manchester City, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal reason to be interested.

It does look as though Juventus will, once again, be getting the jewel of Fiorentina, though. A rivalry between the clubs has existed for a long time and worsened with the transfers of Roberto Baggio, Federico Bernadeschi and Federico Chiesa from Florence to Turin. Fiorentina supporters will perhaps feel humiliated that another star man is going the way of The Old Lady.

©Getty / Jonathan Moscrop

Rumours say that Juventus forward Alvaro Morata could now depart the Allianz Stadium with Barcelona interested. Barcelona would have to make room for Morata so the future of Ousmane Dembele becomes even more questionable.