Juventus are struggling to tie highly-rated defender Radu Dragusin down to a new contract, with Crystal Palace joining Newcastle United in the race for his signature, as reported by Gazzetta dello Sport.
The 19-year-old Romanian may dream of becoming a pillar at the heart of Andrea Pirlo’s Juve side. But that does not mean he will blindly accept any offer put to him by the reigning Serie A champions.
Dragusin is out of contract in July and, according to Gazzetta, has been the subject of proposals from both Newcastle and a RB Leipzig side who agreed to sell Dayot Upamecano to Bayern Munich over the weekend.
Crystal Palace are the latest club to express an interest.
But, after being handed his Serie A and Champions League debut by Pirlo, why is Dragusin reluctant to put pen to paper on a new long-term deal at the Allianz Stadium?
It seems there is some debate about what his role would be going forward.
Gazzetta points out that, with Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci, Matthijs de Ligt and Merih Demiral all at Pirlo’s disposal, Dragusin is not foolish enough to demand a place in Juve’s starting XI.
But the teenager does want some assurances that he will have a first-team place in Turin. Interestingly, the report suggests that Dragusin would consider turning his back on the Italian giants if he is offered the opportunity to play week in, week out elsewhere.
“He’s physically very strong,” Pirlo said in December, adding that Dragusin still has a lot of room for improvement.
“He’s very young and must develop on a technical level, but he will have time to do it, training every day with great champions.”
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