Juve eyes early move for pending free agent Jonathan Tah
Juventus will reportedly attempt to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah in the January transfer market. While a top team targeting a quality player is very common, this particular scenario is unique.
The Germany international’s current contract with Leverkusen is set to expire at the end of the 2024/25 season. As previous negotiations stalled, Tah was seemingly set to be sold by the German club at some point this summer. Teams typically prefer to sell a prized asset, rather than watch them potentially walk away for free.
Despite links to a plethora of clubs ahead of the current campaign, the defender remained with Leverkusen. Although he stayed with the reigning Bundesliga champions, he is widely expected to leave the club in June.
As a pending free agent, Tah can begin discussing potential contracts with teams outside of Germany in January. The center-back will certainly have plenty of suitors in the coming months.
Juve wants to replace injured star defender ASAP
One team, in particular, that wants Tah is Juventus. The Italian side, however, may not want to wait until next summer to make a move. Reports out of Italy claim that the Old Lady is looking to beat the competition by signing the defender during the January transfer market.
Juve’s willingness to jump the gun essentially comes down to a significant injury to their star center-back. Bremer recently suffered an ACL setback early in their Champions League matchup with RB Leipzig on October 2nd. Due to the issue, the Brazilian star is now likely to miss much of the 2024/25 season.
While Juve wants to add Tah to the squad, making the move in January could prove to be costly. Assuming they were to win the German’s sweepstakes next summer, the Old Lady would only have to pay Tah a salary. However, Juve, or any other club, must give Leverkusen an ample transfer fee if they want to sign the defender in the middle of the season.
It remains unclear what kind of fee the German club would demand. On top of this issue, Juve also apparently has to offload another player before possibly signing Tah. The Serie A side remains committed to balancing their books. Arthur and Danillo are two potential stars that could make way.
Seven clubs join Juventus in monitoring Jonathan Tah
Juve is hoping that they can entice Tah to join them and, in turn, resist other offers. The Italian club is reportedly willing to give the center-back an annual salary of between $4.3 million and $5.4 million. This particular pay scale would be in line with what Bayern Munich also supposedly offered Tah earlier this summer. Although the defender did not move on to Leverkusen’s biggest rival, he could still make the switch in June.
Along with Bayern, Juve will have to fend off interest in Tah from several other top teams across the continent. Inter Milan, Barcelona, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester United are all reportedly keeping tabs on the pending free agent. Leverkusen would certainly welcome a possible bidding war come January, rather than have Tah exit as a free agent next summer.
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