Juventus will look to Chelsea’s Timo Werner or Manchester United’s Anthony Martial if they cannot wrap up a deal for main target Alvaro Morata, according to Sky Italy.
Juve boss Max Allegri has identified the Spaniard as the missing piece to complete his new-look front line with Dusan Vlahovic and Angel Di Maria.
Morata is back at Atletico after Juve passed up on their £29.7m option to sign him permanently when his two-year loan expired in June, as they want to try and negotiate a lower fee.
Anthony Martial celebrates his pre-season goal with Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho
Martial had already been of interest to Juventus in the January transfer window before he eventually joined Sevilla on loan.
Sky Germany understands Werner is attracting interest from his former club RB Leipzig, who received £49m for him when his release clause was met by Chelsea two years ago.
Werner has also been amongst the goals for Chelsea in pre-season
Meanwhile, Paul Pogba has suffered a torn meniscus in a training session only two weeks into his Juventus return.
The injury will force him out of the rest of Juve’s pre-season games and he is likely to miss their Serie A opener against Sassuolo on August 15.
The club say Pogba will undergo “specialist orthopedic consultation” as they prepare to play Barcelona and Juventus in the United States this week.
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Ten Back backs Martial to get even better
United manager Erik ten Hag seemingly ended any doubt about Martial’s Old Trafford future by backing the forward to get “even better” if he can stay focused and motivated.
A big-money signing from Monaco in 2015, the 26-year-old had lost his way at Old Trafford in recent times and joined Sevilla on loan for the second half of last season.
Martial’s unhappiness was laid bare by interim boss Ralf Rangnick, but permanent successor Ten Hag appears keen to give the France international another chance at United.
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The forward scored in Tuesday’s 4-0 win against Liverpool in Thailand and netted again in Australia as United came from behind to beat Melbourne Victory 4-1 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“I’m sure he can come back even better,” Ten Hag said. “I think when he has the right focus and the right motivation and he works hard he will have production because he is a good player.
“I say when he has the right focus and every day delivers his max then he will have production and it’s up to him.”
Tuchel questions Chelsea commitment after Arsenal loss
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Thomas Tuchel questioned his Chelsea side’s commitment “physically and mentally” after they were hammered 4-0 by Arsenal – a game in which Werner started.
First-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard put the Gunners in complete control at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando before Bukayo Saka tapped in during the second period and Albert Sambi Lokonga rubbed salt into the wounds with an injury-time header.
Tuchel admitted he was worried and did not hold back after seeing his team collapse against one of their Premier League rivals with the new season just two weeks away.
“I think we deserved to lose – which is fair enough – because we were simply not good enough,” he said.
“We were absolutely not competitive. The worrying part is the level of commitment, physically and mentally, for this match was not the same, it was far higher for Arsenal than us.
Gabriel Jesus scores Arsenal’s opener in their 4-0 win over Chelsea
“We can argue they played with I think their strongest line-up; they’ve had now together several weeks and for more than one year. They’ve strengthened their line-up, played the same structure, and this is the line-up they’ll try to start Premier League games.
“It was not our strongest line-up and this is part of an explanation, but only a little part. The other part is worrying.”