By Romeo Agresti
Juventus are willing to bid €14 million to land promising Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna.
The Bianconeri are desperate to avoid the situation they found themselves in with Marco Verratti, when they stalled with the signing and Paris Saint-Germain swooped for the Italian starlet.
Ogbonna, on the other hand, is believed to have attracted interest from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich – who will have a new coach in the form of Pep Guardiola in the summer – with his top performances in Serie A over the past couple of seasons.
Goal.com understands that Ogbonna would not be untouchable in Antonio Conte’s starting line-up but he would provide the reigning Scudetto holders with a more complete squad.
It has been suggested Juve’s back-line look weakened without Giorgio Chiellini, and an experienced Serie A defender such as the Torino star of Nigerian descent would help negate such an effect.
A major stumbling block in the transfer could be the two Turin-based team’s huge rivalry. It is possible that Granata chairman Urbano Cairo could scupper any switch by opposing holding talks with Juventus.
However, earlier in February the Torino chief had revealed Ogbonna could be on his way out of the Stadio Olimpico in the summer.
In December, it was reported the highly-rated defender is valued by his current club at €19m, but Juve will be hoping their funds of €14m will be sufficient to force Cairo’s hands.
The centre-back has five caps for Italy having made his debut under Cesare Prandelli in late 2011, and subsequently made the Azzurri squad for Euro 2012 but did not play a minute of the side’s run to the final.
