Juventus News Roundup: Juve relaunch bid for Barcelona star, Bianconeri monitoring FC Porto starlet and more - 16 February 2021
Barcelona are braced for a bid from Juventus for one of their most important players.
Juventus will take on FC Porto in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie on Wednesday. The Bianconeri are also preparing for a busy summer transfer window as Andrea Pirlo seeks to bring in young players who could be at the club for the long-term.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Juventus from 16 February 2021.
Paulo Dybala returns to full fitness
Paulo Dybala endured a rocky start to the 2020-21 season as he struggled to adapt to the new system under Andrea Pirlo. However, he finally hit his stride in January and just as he was starting to turn in impressive performances, he suffered an injury and hasn't featured since then.
Calciomercato reveals that Paulo Dybala has returned to full fitness and also partially trained with the rest of the players yesterday. Wednesday night's Champions League game against Porto might come too early for the Argentine but the report states that he could be named in the matchday squad.
Juventus keeping an eye on Tomas Esteves
FC Porto's Tomas Esteves who is currently on loan at Championship side Reading, has caught the eye of Juventus, as per Calciomercato. Esteves has played at right-back and at right-wing this season for Reading since joining in October 2020.
Esteves is valued at €8 million and has already featured thrice for Porto's senior side. Juventus are currently monitoring his situation and if they are impressed with what they see over the course of the next few months, it'll be interesting to see if the Old Lady return with a bid.
Juventus relaunch bid for Barcelona youngster Ansu Fati
18-year-old Ansu Fati was arguably Barcelona's best attacker in the opening part of the season. Naturally, several European giants are now keeping an eye on the youngster. Barcelona reportedly saw him as the heir to Lionel Messi.
According to Calciomercato, Barcelona are now open to selling Ansu Fati as they think that his current injury issue could relapse in the future. As such, a move to Juventus has become a possibility again.
Juventus will need to pay close to €80 million to sign Ansu Fati. His current contract with Barcelona runs until 2022 but the Catalans have the option of extending it by two years and as such, they are in a good position to negotiate a good deal for the youngster.