Miralem Pjanic is open to joining Fiorentina as Juventus continue to struggle to agree on terms with Barcelona for the rumoured Tottenham Hotspur target, per TuttoMercatoWEB.
Pjanic has waited all summer to secure a return to Turin just a year after leaving the Allianz Stadium for the Camp Nou. But the Bianconeri are yet to offload one of their midfielders, and must free a space before re-signing the Bosnian.
It is impossible for Juventus to sign Pjanic without clearing a spot in Massimiliano Allegri’s ranks first. Even though the 31-year-old wants to return to the Serie A at any cost and will take a significant pay cut on his €7.5m-a-year (£124k-p/w) wage to end his Barcelona spell.
Roma and Napoli had also considered deals but neither appealed to Pjanic, who wanted to work with Allegri once again. But he’s now open to joining Fiorentina, as President Rocco Commisso’s enthusiasm immediately caught the four-time Serie A winner’s attention.
Tottenham explored Pjanic’s situation before Fiorentina’s interest, with Sport noting Nuno Espirito Santo backed signing the Barcelona midfielder. TuttoMercatoWEB also reported Spurs would have no issue matching the £55m technician’s wage to see that he joined.
Pjanic wants to hold an important role in a first-team after starting six of 19 La Liga outings last season. Ronald Koeman has also omitted the 100-cap international from each of his matchday squads so far this season. Which Barcelona have won and drawn to sit third.
Fiorentina may offer Pjanic the opportunities he craves, if Tottenham do not, but will need Barcelona to accept compromised terms. A possible solution would be a loan with the La Liga giants agreeing to cover a proportion of his wage.
Fiorentina to sign Nuno target Pjanic after denying Tottenham Vlahovic?
Fiorentina and Barcelona agreeing on terms for Pjanic could see the Serie A side deny Nuno a midfield target after also denying Tottenham one of their striker targets. Fabrizio Romano claims La Viola have rejected Spurs’ approach for Serbian goal machine Dusan Vlahovic.
Nuno’s best hopes of convincing Pjanic to reject Fiorentina would be to offer the Barcelona outcast guaranteed minutes at Tottenham. It was Commisso’s enthusiasm to play regularly in Tuscany that appealed most of all to the Bosnian during their discussions.
Tottenham would also not need to rely on Barcelona accepting compromised terms to sign Pjanic, like Fiorentina do. Strengthening their position in any negotiations with the Catalan outfit over their Serie A rivals. Should Nuno convince Fabio Paratici to step up their chase.
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