Massimiliano Allegri looks set to hand a call-up to the Juventus senior squad to 20-year-old Next Gen striker Leonardo Cerri for Monday evening’s game against Udinese in Serie A, multiple outlets are reporting.
Juventus will be without Dusan Vlahovic on Monday, after the muscular injury he picked up during the 1-0 loss to Inter in the league last weekend.
In Vlahovic’s absence, Arkadiusz Milik looks set to return to the starting line-up, having served his suspension against Empoli last time out. He is expected to be joined in attack by Federico Chisea in a 3-5-2.
However, Moise Kean also remains out injured, which leaves Juventus slightly short on attacking options, which is why Allegri looks set to hand a first call-up to Cerri.
At 1.98m in height, Cerri is a towering centre-forward, and one who could provide Allegri with a more direct outlet up front if the Old Lady decide to call upon him during the Udinese clash.
Cerri has notched nine goals in 43 Serie C appearances for the Juventus’ Next Gen side and has been compared in profile to former Bayern Munich striker and 2006 World Cup winner Luca Toni by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Cerri will be handed the no. 45 shirt when Juventus host Udinese at the Allianz Stadium, which kicks off at 19.45 on Monday evening.