Carlos Alcaraz has just two months to prove a convincing figure at Juventus, who have already started planning for summer negotiations with Southampton.
The 21-year-old Argentinian midfielder joined the Old Lady on a six-month loan deal worth around €3.7m plus €1.9m in add-ons, with a €49.5m buy option attached, figures that confused some fans in Turin considering his move came from the English second division.
Alcaraz has hardly made a splash with Juventus since his arrival, seeing just five first team appearances for a total of 176 minutes. He provided an assist against Napoli before a hamstring injury kept him sidelined for the last three matches.
Alcaraz strategy
Page 14 of today’s Gazzetta dello Sport details how Juventus have no intention of activating the €49.5m buy option attached to Alcaraz’s loan, but they are open to setting up a new deal with Southampton. The current plan is to renew the loan for another season.
Much also depends on how things go for the 21-year-old over the next nine or 10 matches. The Argentine talent wants to stay and admitted back in February that it would be ‘difficult but not impossible’ to convince the Old Lady to retain him.