As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Luciano Spalletti wants to reunite with Stanislav Lobotka at Juventus.
The 67-year-old has been asking for the veteran Slovak for a while now, hoping for him to become the linchpin of his midfield, which would in turn free up Manuel Locatelli to occupy positions further up the pitch and perform freer roles in the middle of the park.
During his time at Napoli, which has included Serie A-winning campaigns under both Spalletti and Antonio Conte after him, the 31-year-old has established himself as one of the most reliable deep-lying midfielders in Europe, let alone Italy.
His current Napoli contract, fetching him a gross salary of โฌ3.59 million and set to expire next summer, has a โฌ25m release clause, though that remains the case only for teams outside of Italy; Serie A sides will have to fork out another โฌ5 million to bring Napoli to the negotiating table.
A deal worth making
Lobotkaโs reputation speaks for itself and his capabilities in midfield. Be it โฌ25 million or โฌ30 million, he is available at a bargain price for any side looking to establish or strengthen a tactical strategy that relies on having solid on-the-ball principles to dictate proceedings.
The idea of Lobotka being a regista and freeing up Locatelli, who does his best work as a No. 8, makes for an interesting prospect for Juve, and they need all the help they can get if they are to return to the top of Serie A as well as Champions League football, not to mention moving him away from the Stadio Maradona would weaken Napoli considerably.
If a deal is possible here, then Juve chairman Giovanni Carnevali should make it happen.
Anshuman Joshi | GIFN
