Veteran striker Didier Drogba's contract at Galatasaray expires at the end of next month, and he's close to engineering a move from Istanbul to Turin with the Italian champions Juventus. So says French newspaper L'Equipe, despite the Italian papers reporting coach Antonio Conte would rather hold out for Real Madrid's Álvaro Morata, who's a relative toddler at just 21.
Juventus reportedly close to signing Didier Drogba
According to reports in France, Didier Drogba could soon find himself at the Italian champions.
Mike Hewitt
If Juventus are looking to add quality, then it certainly makes sense that they're going to do it up front. At present they have an astonishing lack of top class talent up front, despite having an awful lot of depth. Fabio Quagliarella and Mirko Vučinić are now both too old and too average for the bianconeri to make a serious dent in the Champions League, while there's no word as to whether Pablo Osvaldo's loan deal will be made permanent. Sebastian Giovinco is only 27 and has shown rare glimpses of his quality this season, but he doesn't really fit in Conte's 3-5-2.
If, as is perfectly possible, all three leave this summer, then starters Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tévez would be their only two experienced forwards at Conte's disposal. Clearly that's not ideal. So, making a move for Didier Drogba does kind of make sense -- he's still got a year or two left and would probably be pretty content with being used in rotation with Juve's other frontmen. It'd also be a logical continuation of Juve's policy of signing experienced players on free transfers -- Andrea Pirlo, Llorente and Tévez being notable examples.
But that in itself doesn’t make it a good signing. Drogba’s age means he isn’t necessarily that much of an upgrade on their current options, and really, the last couple of seasons have shown that Juventus need better players, not just more of them. It’d be far more bold and ambitious for Juve to gamble on a player like Morata, whose short-term impact may be less, but potential long-term gains far greater. If they want to become a serious continental force, then they’re going to have to gamble youth and potential sometime soon.
Certainly, there’s a very good chance Drogba to Juve will happen. Whether it’s the right move, is another matter altogether.
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