Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic is in the final season of his contract with the Serie A giants, and there is unlikely for the two parties to come to an agreement over an extension over a gap in wage expectations.
In a bid to avoid losing the player for free next summer, the Bianconeri are prepared to sell him in January itself and according to Italian source La Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea and Manchester United are pondering over Vlahovic’s transfer.
He has scored four goals and provided one assist in all competitions so far this season, and has a £30 million valuation on Transfermarkt. On a related note, his salary expectation is around £200,000 per week.
Vlahovic has been linked with a switch to the Premier League for the last few months, including to Arsenal, but a swoop did not materialise in the preceded summer. Chelsea and United, however, may look to bring him to England very soon.
United need a striker more than Chelsea
Chelsea are in no need to sign a striker as they have already spent a good chunk of money on Joao Pedro and Liam Delap this year, whereas Nicolas Jackson may also be back at the club after his loan at Bayern Munich next summer.
Manchester United could benefit from Dusan Vlahovic’s transfer, however, as Joshua Zirkzee seems to have no place in Ruben Amorim’s plans and with Matheus Cunha more effective on the left wing, the Red Devils could add another striker to the team.
Benjamin Sesko scored his first Premier League goal in the defeat to Brentford, but has not got much competition for game time and increasing the depth in his role could work favourably from all possible angles.
Dusan Vlahovic’s physicality in the final third and ability to drive into the box with the ball at his feet will make him a very similar profile to Sesko, but nonetheless, being left-footed might help United work out a different tactical tweak.
It will be interesting to see if the board is prepared to sign another striker in the winter or if the focus is now entirely on revamping the midfield and potentially acquiring another central defender.
