Juventus and Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United for weeks now, and after denying he was going nowhere, Juventus appeared to soften that stance on Monday when the club’s CEO Giuseppe Marotta is said that they will only sell Vidal if the midfielder asks to to go.
Gazzetta dello Sport say that United are offering somewhere in the region of €50m to €60m for the 27-year-old dynamic midfielder, who has reportedly already agreed to a wage packet of €8m per season (net), which is double what he makes in Turin.
Marotta told Sky Italia:
”We have clear ideas. We renewed [Vidal’s] contract a few months ago just because we knew we could count on an important element.
“We don’t want to sell Vidal, there are only rumors because he is a player among the best in the world. We never activated a clause to try to sell him – if he doesn’t show an intention to leave, our position won’t change.”
By selling Vidal for what is a huge sum of money, Juventus will be able to keep their other midfield star Paul Pogba for at least another year or two. The funds would also allow new Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri to add some more players that fit his style of play as opposed to those of former coach Antonio Conte.
For United, Vidal, who has led Serie A in tackles since 2011, would give them their first real box-to-box midfielder since the retirement of Roy Keane. Vidal will add a bit to a United midfield that was found lacking last season, but with Ander Herrera already signed, and the potential addition of Vidal, suddenly United’s midfield looks a lot more competitive against the best teams in the Premier League.