Ready for a higher line of duty, Isco is bound to pay off should Juve make their move

After Juventus’ UCL final loss to Barcelona in June, it became apparent that it was the end of an era in many ways.

The Bianconeri would likely move forward without influential leaders Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez for next season, with either of Paul Pogba or Arturo Vidal also speculated to leave. The Turin club had ended the past four seasons top of the table in Serie A and broke many records along the way.

Leading by example for Italian clubs both on and off the field, the Bianconeri were just about invincible in Italy. Pirlo and Tevez eventually did leave, with Arturo Vidal also joining the list of noteworthy departures. Pirlo set his sights on an adventure in the ever-growing MLS with New York City FC, Tevez with boyhood club Boca Juniors and Vidal was offloaded to German champions Bayern Munich for a fee close to €40 million.

Juventus lost not only an extremely talented trio but also three of its biggest on-field leaders, two coming from directly in midfield. Pirlo was the midfield general across his four years in Turin – it seemed almost every passage of play was directed through him. His career was revitalised at Juventus after AC Milan cut him loose in 2011 at the age of 32. He was able to prolong his career with such great success thanks to a system which allowed him to play his natural game and become the focal point in a three-man midfield with two extraordinary runners alongside him.

One, who was often to his right, was Vidal. Another who joined Juventus in 2011, Vidal was signed for €10.5 million from German club Bayer Leverkusen. Vidal is competitive, skilful, versatile, and also a weapon in front of goal, scoring 35 times throughout his stay in Turin. He was able to play alongside Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio and Paul Pogba in the midfield three, as well as in a more advanced position behind the strikers in a 4-3-1-2, a formation Massimiliano Allegri tends to favour and will look towards heading into this season.

The Bianconeri acted quickly at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season in securing the signature of free agent and World Cup winner, Sami Khedira. A returning Kwadwo Asamoah would act as cover in midfield for the Bianconeri while they would also be looking to Stefano Sturaro to step up and play a more influential role in 2015-16. Further afield, Paulo Dybala was signed to ignite the fuse in attack much like Tevez did throughout his two years in Turin. While the signing of Khedira, the expected gain of a fit Asamoah and a more mature Sturaro in midfield will bode well for Juventus, they are still without a brainy midfielder with great artistry.

Skip to mid to late August a few days before the Serie A season begins and the Italian champions are still without their much desired attacking midfielder. It must be mentioned that Roberto Pereyra was a bolter last season, a player with little expectation who proved to do well and someone who could flourish with the addition of extra playing time. Competing across the board though, Juventus will want someone who they see as having a higher ceiling, someone of a greater quality who can start over Pereyra and dominate the world stage. A path may have been paved with Inter’s Mateo Kovacic heading to Real Madrid, leaving a chance for 23-year-old Isco to depart.

Signed in 2013, Isco has shown plenty to suggest he could become a great success at Madrid, but given the never ending influx of expensive talent and the political pressure that is seemingly exerted upon the club hierarchy to make these marquee signings a success, he has never been given the responsibility a player of his quality deserves. With an unbelievable skill set and an abundance of talent, Isco represents an ideal no.1o signing for Juventus. Not that we want to compare anyone with Pirlo, who is unique and proven beyond all means, but Isco’s low centre of gravity and capability in escaping a string of opponents during particularly tense situations is certainly remarkable and something Pirlo would feel at ease watching.

At Juventus, Isco would find himself immediately shouldering creative responsibility. Khedira and Sturaro will prove to be industrious in midfield but they will still be without replacing the inventiveness of someone like Pirlo. Juventus are not looking for someone to emulate the role that Pirlo played, because nobody can. They will have to adapt and work towards another solution, fielding a true no.10 to compliment Marchisio.

What Juventus need is someone with a natural ability to create and Isco is hungry for a higher line of duty and ready to impact a team. Marchisio proved last season he could be a solid regista. When Pirlo was out through injury it was Il Principino that would step into the midfield core and assume command, also allowing someone like Pereyra to assume the no.10 post and play the role in the pocket between midfield and attack. In the 4-3-1-2, Isco would fit perfectly as the trequartista, an attacking midfielder who sits behind the strikers, providing dangerous through balls to the likes of Mario Mandzukic and Alvaro Morata. The latter is a former teammate of Isco’s and also someone who fell out of place in Madrid due to the array of marquee talent available at the club. Morata showed his eye for goal last season, scoring eight and assisting five others, demonstrating that the move away from the club of his youth was a wise one for his career.

The ex-Malaga man wwill not come cheaply however, given Real would want to recoup what they had paid. A fee of anywhere between €40 million to €50 million could see a deal done between the Spanish giants and Juventus. Whether the Old Lady would be willing to muster up that kind of bid is something that remains a mystery at the moment. Giuseppe Marotta is not the type to give in to a club’s demands without a fight and not only would Isco most likely represent the most expensive signing in his tenure at the club, he would represent one of the highest transfer fees paid for a player in club history, which currently stands at €51 million, paid for Gianluigi Buffon’s services.

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Juventus would look to secure Isco on their terms, which may prove to be a little difficult should Madrid transfer list their prized asset as he would not be short of bidders. Whoever signs Isco, should he leave, will be buying one of the players of the transfer window and someone with enormous upside, capable of immediately lifting the quality of almost any team.

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