Real Madrid right-back Alvaro Odriozola could join Serie A giants Juventus in a £13 million deal after missing out on a deadline day move to Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest, according to Tuttomercatoweb.
Hands up who saw this coming? Serge Aurier, back in England with Steve Cooper’s Forest, re-inventing himself as a solid, no-nonsense full-back during a hard-fought 1-0 win over Liverpool?
It’s early days, of course. But a man who had a reputation for being something of a ‘mistake magnet’ at Tottenham Hotspur looks a far more mature, well-rounded footballer at the City Ground, a season under the obsessive, pragmatic Unai Emery at Villarreal seemingly doing wonders for Aurier’s defensive awareness and positional sense.
Juventus eye Real Madrid’s Alvaro Odriozola after Nottingham Forest interest
Aurier only joined Nottingham Forest on a free transfer in September.
This came after the 2021/22 play-off winners missed out on a deal for another La Liga-based right-back in Alvaro Odriozola. Forest, Marca say, were willing to offer the former Real Sociedad flyer a better wage than he currently earns at the Santiago Bernabeu.
But, after a deadline day move failed to materialise, the one-time Fiorentina loanee could be on his way back to Italy instead when the window opens again in January. An out-of-sorts and crisis-hit Juventus side are ‘ready’ to sign Odriozola on loan; complete with a £13 million option-to-buy clause.
The four-time Spain international swapped Sociedad for Madrid back in 2018 to the tune of £34 million. He’s made only 31 La Liga appearances since then, however. And, with Dani Carvalhal and Lucas Vazquez ahead of him in Carlo Ancelotti’s pecking order, Odriozola is still awaiting his first appearance of 2022/23.
Should he return to Serie A, he’ll be joining a Juventus side who hit rock bottom during Tuesday’s 4-3 defeat to Benfica; a result that saw them drop out of the Champions League at the group-stage for the first time in nearly a decade.
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