Barcelona interested in signing 3 Juventus players in the summer: Reports

Barcelona are plotting a move for three Juventus players in the summer, Italian outlet Tuttojuve has reported. Manuel Locatelli, Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa are the three players who are in Barca’s crosshairs.

In January, an Italian soccer court deducted 15 points from Juventus’ point tally for the 2022-23 Serie A season for alleged wrongdoing in transfer dealings. The Bianconeri were in third place in Serie A with 37 points before the penalty. After the docking, they slipped to 10th place.

Their morale has taken a hit since the sanction, with them losing further ground. Massimiliano Allegri's side currently find themselves in 13th place in the league standings, a whopping 15 points off fourth-placed Lazio.

It is believed that many of the big names at Juve could look for a way out in the summer and Barcelona are waiting in the wings to capitalize. According to the aforementioned report, the Catalans are interested in signing Locatelli, Vlahovic and Chiesa ahead of the 2023-24 season.

It has been reported that the Old Lady do not wish to entertain offers for Chiesa and Vlahovic, but Locatelli could be sold for the right price. Any interested suitor would reportedly have to pay €50 million or above to sign the 25-year-old midfielder this summer.

---

Xavi declares Barcelona are “hungry for success” after emphatic win over Sevilla

La Liga leaders Barcelona secured a 3-0 win over Sevilla in their Matchday 20 meeting on Sunday night (February 5).

Jordi Alba opened the scoring in the 58th minute before Gavi doubled the hosts’ advantage with a clinical finish in the 70th minute. Former Leeds United man Raphinha scored the third goal of the game in the 79th minute to seal a 3-0 victory.

The win saw Barcelona open up an eight-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table. At the post-match press conference, Barca coach Xavi expressed his contentment with his team’s performance, declaring that they are excited for what is to come.

“This is a proud day. We talked about it at half-time. We’ve made so much progress and I’m so happy. We did very well, a complete match,” Xavi said.

“We didn’t allow Sevilla to respond. We pressed very well for the whole match. We’ve had a lot of good matches that give us a lot of confidence for what’s to come. I can see that the team is working perfectly, and the players are hungry for success.”

Barca will return to La Liga action with a trip to Villarreal on Sunday, February 12.