Report: Juventus tests PSG with initial €22M bid for Matuidi
Juventus kicked off negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday for French midfielder Blaise Matuidi, submitting a first bid worth €22 million plus another €5 million in add-ons, according to Sky Sport Italia's Gianluca Di Marzio.
The Bianconeri are hoping to sign a replacement for Paul Pogba before the transfer window closes Aug. 31, and Matuidi has emerged as their primary target. Newcastle's Moussa Sissoko and Wolfsburg's Luiz Gustavo are considered alternatives.
Setting Matuidi apart is his apparent desire to move to Italy and his connection to agent Mino Raiola, who brokered Pogba's world-record €105-million transfer to Manchester United.
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Raiola is now working on the other side of the negotiating table for Juventus in what's becoming a lucrative summer for the Dutch-Italian. He also swung deals for clients Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to join the Red Devils.
Talks could still prove difficult if PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi stands by recent comments about Matuidi. Al-Khelaifi essentially took the 29-year-old off the market, calling him "a pillar of our team" in an official club statement earlier this month.
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With just days remaining in the transfer window, however, Di Marzio believes PSG would consider a sale at a fee closer to €30 million.
Matuidi's also no longer a guaranteed starter in the French capital. Marco Verratti, Thiago Motta, Adrien Rabiot, Benjamin Stambouli, and Grzegorz Krychowiak all offer similar characteristics as central midfielders, and Matuidi failed to start in PSG's first two matches of the new Ligue 1 season.
Known for his strength and intensity, the 29-year-old would execute for Juventus the same role Pogba did.