Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri has a habit of raiding his old teams to build his new ones. The former Chelsea boss immediately purchased Jorginho from Napoli when he moved to Stamford Bridge. He also brought Gonzalo Higuain on loan to West London.
Now, according to Antonio Milone of Tuttosport, Sarri wants to reunite with Chelsea left-back Emerson Palmieri in Turin, and they believe swapping him for Alex Sandro will entice the Blues.
Juventus Prepared to Swap Alex Sandro for Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri
Juventus’ Interest
Citing the same Tuttosport article, Sport Witness says Juventus chief Fabio Paratici thinks his club are in “the front row” when it comes to Emerson’s suitors. The Blues have reportedly asked for €25 million in exchange for the Brazil-born Italian international.
Usually, a €25 million transfer fee is just a drop in the bucket for super clubs like Juve. However, with the Coronavirus pandemic, transfer prices and activity are hard to predict at this point. Still, the Italian giants would likely have the funds to sanction the sale.
If they cannot find the money, Juventus plan to swap Alex Sandro to get the deal over the line.
Emerson v Sandro
This swap, without a doubt, favours Juventus long-term, which is probably why they’re so keen on it. At 25-years-old, Emerson is entering his prime and making headway with the revitalized Italy national team. He started four and subbed on once during the Azzuri’s perfect ten-game Euro 2020 qualification campaign.
Emerson is an attack-minded left-back, as so many full-backs are in the modern game. He can start attacks from deep with good vision and passing. He can also add to the attack when overlapping with the wingers.
On the other side of the ball, he possesses good defensive awareness, stepping into passing lanes and making crucial interceptions. However, he still needs to work on his one v one defending, something that will come with experience.
Alex Sandro, on the other hand, has entered the back half of his prime, now 29. Other than Juventus, the highest level he has played at in Europe was with Porto from 2011-2015.
Plus, he has only played one major tournament with Brazil, last year’s Copa America. Granted, he has been stuck behind two great defenders – Marcelo, arguably the world’s best left-back, and Filipe Luis, a serial winner in Brazil, England, Spain, and European competition.
Alex Sandro is a better one v one defender than Emerson and a better crosser of the ball. Emerson, though, isn’t far behind and does a lot more in the transition and build up. Importantly, Emerson is on an upward trajectory while Alex Sandro’s is at best flat right now and soon to be heading downward.
Alex Sandro for the Short-Term Only at Chelsea
Having reportedly missed out on Alex Telles, another Brazilian left-back, Chelsea may have to “settle” for someone as good as Alex Sandro, and that sounds oddly patronizing. You have to say, Chelsea could do much worse at left-back than getting him for a few seasons before dipping into the market again.
Sarri has shown he requires particular players for different roles to properly execute ‘Sarriball’, and, clearly, Emerson is one of those, meaning Chelsea can hold Juve’s feet to the fire a bit and extract maximum value, including getting Alex Sandro. While he is probably still the better player at this point, he would only be a short-term solution for the Blues.
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