Juve And Sassuolo Start Talking About Signing Manuel Locatelli

JAKARTA - Juventus have started talks with Sassuolo to sign Italy midfielder Manuel Locatelli.

According to a Goal report quoted by Antara, Thursday, June 24, the Bianconeri are known to have been eyeing the 23-year-old for some time, and last week had prepared an offer of 30 million euros (around IDR 517 billion) plus Romanian defender Radu Dragusin.

Juve have made an official approach, which means talks over the player's transfer have also started on Wednesday.

The Turin club hope to reach an agreement with Sassoulo and present one of their starlets in a smooth process.

Dragusin is considered one of the most talented young players at Juve, but he has struggled to break into the first team due to the intense competition at the Allianz Stadium.

The 19-year-old defender was allowed by Juve to fill Locatelli's place at the domestic rivals, while Sassuolo are open to accepting him.

Juve will try to borrow Locatelli for one season before making him permanent in the following season.

Sassuolo are known to want 40 million euros (around Rp. 690 billion) for Locatelli and have no intention of lowering the price.

Locatelli is now playing for Italy at Euro 2020 (Euro) and has performed well by scoring two goals in the group stage match against Switzerland.

He is currently reluctant to discuss his future because he wants to focus on carrying out his duties with the Italian national team.

"(Transfer rumours) are just talks. I will decide after the European Cup," Locatelli said. "There is a very important competition to play in, and I am only focused on this (Euro 2020)."

"I rely on what happens on the pitch, real things, everything else is just gossip, there's no point in talking about that."