Transfer news and rumours of the day: 22nd December, 2016
Welcome to our daily transfer news roundup from across Europe. With the January transfer window less than 10 days away the rumour mills are hotting up and clubs are closing in on their targets.
The big news of the day is that Serie A giants Juventus have enter the race to sign Real Madrid star James Rodriguez, while Barcelona are also eyeing a cut-price deal for a Belgian midfielder.
Here are all the transfer news and rumours from 22nd December 2016:
Serie A
Juventus enter race for James Rodriguez
James Rodriguez has been linked with a host of clubs worldwide ever since he accepted that he has received offers from different clubs. However, the latest team to join the race to sign the Colombian are Serie A giants Juventus.
Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta has refused to rule out a move for the Colombian sensation. Speaking in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, he said: "It depends on what we do in the transfer market.
"We have to respect the balance sheet, but Juve want to position themselves among the best clubs in the world and this is and always will be our ambitious objective. Four or five years ago, we certainly could not have allowed ourselves to spend the figures we spent on players such as [Gonzalo] Higuain or [Miralem] Pjanic, but now we can.
"Our potential has grown a great deal thanks to the excellent job done by president Andrea Agnelli which means we can afford major investments in the sporting area. And we certainly want to continue travelling down this road.”
Juventus CEO rules out move for Julian Draxler
Giuseppe Marotta – CEO of Bayern Munich – has ruled out the club from making a move for Wolfsburg forward Julian Draxler – who is destined to leave the Wolfswagen Arena in January. The 59-year-old insisted that no player joins Juventus if they have refused them once.
He said: "It's impossible that [Draxler] will join Juventus because it bothered us a lot when he turned us down.
"If you refuse us once, well, Juventus just look elsewhere."
Torino looking to make Joe Hart deal permanent amidst Liverpool interest
Serie A outfit Torino are interested in making the loan move of Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart permanent in the summer but could face stern competition from Premier League outfit Liverpool, according to Daily Mirror.
According to the report, Liverpool are monitoring the situation of the 29-year-old and a return to the Premier League will definitely suite the Englishman more than a stint in Serie A. The Reds had signed Loris Karius in the summer, in a bid to end their goalkeeping woes but the German has failed to establish himself as the first-choice at Anfield, forcing Jurgen Klopp to look for alternatives.