Allegri and Juventus have to make a decision on Vlahovic

Juventus are working hard to identify an action plan to resolve the situation surrounding struggling centre-forward Dusan Vlahovic. 

The Serbian international signed for the Bianconeri in January 2022 for a fee of €81.6 million, including €11.6 million in solidarity payments and potentially a further €10 million in bonuses. 

At the time, Vlahovic became the third most expensive winter signing in the history of the sport, after Phillipe Coutinho’s move to Barcelona and Virgil Van Dijk’s to Liverpool both in January 2018. 

Since then however, as La Gazzetta dello Sport writes, Vlahovic’s goals have been diminishing and as a result, so has his market value. 

The 23-year-old has delivered 11 goals from 31 matches across all competitions, but those numbers aren’t quite as high as Juventus were hoping for when they forked out the fourth-highest fee they have ever paid. 

And, Vlahovic’s productivity in front of goal is gradually declining. The former Fiorentina striker has only hit the net four times this calendar year; a brace against Salernitana and goals against Nantes and Freiburg in the Europa League. 

Now, the Serbian appears to be struggling with a confidence crisis and as of Monday morning, he has deleted his Instagram profile. 

A host of clubs from across Europe, including in the Premier League and in Spain, remain undeterred and are still interested in making a move to sign Vlahovic in the summer. 

However, Juve still have important games to go before the end of the season and Massimiliano Allegri has two choices when it comes to Vlahovic. 

Option A, writes Gazzetta, is to put his faith in the out-of-form forward, like he has done previously with Alex Sandro and Adrien Rabiot, and continue to select him in the starting line-up regardless of his goal drought. 

Option B would be to take the pressure or feeling of responsibility away from Vlahovic by starting him from the bench in some of Juve’s remaining big games this season. 

Arguably, Vlahovic’s best form this campaign has come in Europe, so he could potentially continue to be given opportunities in the Europa League, while another option is given a go in Serie A. 

Either way, Juventus must find a solution soon if they are to get Vlahovic back to his best.