Cristiano Giuntoli has held his first press conference as Juventus Football Director providing transfer updates regarding Premier League clubs Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and West Ham.
The Hammers are in talks to sign Juventus midfielder Denis Zakaria, but Giuntoli revealed that they are not the only clubs interested in the Swiss midfielder.
“We are in talks with a couple of clubs for Zakaria, same as Arthur and Leonardo, but we haven’t found anything that suits him [Bonucci] yet,” said Giuntoli.
Juventus have set their asking price for Zakaria at €25m but could eventually agree to part ways with the midfielder for circa €18-20m. It’s a fee that West Ham can afford following Declan Rice’s sale to Arsenal.
The former Napoli director also confirmed that he will listen to offers for stars Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa, although bids must be ‘irrefutable.’
Liverpool and Newcastle are interested in Chiesa, but Juventus haven’t received any offer yet. The Italy international resumed training with the Bianconeri on Monday. Giuntoli confirmed that Juventus may need to sell some of their stars to balance the books.
Chelsea have set their sights on Vlahovic, who has also been linked with Bayern Munich, Tottenham and PSG.
At the same time, the Serie A giants have held talks with Chelsea for wantaway Romelu Lukaku, but Giuntoli revealed that negotiations with the Blues are not at an advanced stage.
He never directly mentioned Lukaku and replied to the first question from a journalist about the Belgian forward, referring to the ex-Inter striker as ‘the player you mentioned.’
The new Juventus director admitted that protests from Bianconeri supporters regarding Lukaku’s signing would not change the club’s plans even if “we are not thinking about the consequences of something that is not happening.”