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According to reports, Barcelona and Juventus are mulling another swap deal among themselves. The two clubs exchanged players over the summer with Arthur moving to Turin, and Miralem Pjanic arriving at the Camp Nou.
Arthur joined the Catalans in the summer of 2018 and went on to become one of the mainstays of the Barcelona midfield in his debut season. Even though the Brazilian failed to live up to the expectations in his second year, very few people expected him to leave Barcelona, especially since he was considered to be the next Xavi by many at the club. The 24-year-old also had age on his side, however, Barcelona failed to hold on to him for various reasons.
Pjanic, on the other hand, made the move to Juventus from AS Roma ahead of the 2016/17 season. The Bosnian made 178 appearances for the Serie A side and even scored 22 goals. The 30-year-old left Juventus to make way for Arthur’s arrival in the summer.
Since moving to their new clubs, however, both players have hit the ground running. Arthur already has made seven appearances for Juventus, which is the same number of times Pjanic has played for Barcelona this season. And the success of the loan deal has apparently prompted the two sides to consider another swap deal soon.
Barcelona and Juventus unlikely to complete swap deal in January
The players who could be involved in the next swap deal are Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele and Juventus’ Federico Bernardeschi. The Frenchman was initially brought to the Camp Nou as Neymar’s replacement. However, Dembele has failed to convince anyone so far, and the Catalans are running out of patience. His recurring injuries have halted his development in Barcelona and the Blaugrana are ready to move him on.
The Frenchman was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United in the summer, but it never materialized. However, it now appears that he could be headed to Juventus instead, with Bernardeschi arriving as his replacement. The Italian has failed to break into current manager Andrea Pirlo’s side and is expected to move on to greener pastures.
However, a swap deal is unlikely to take place in January, because of the injury picked up by Barcelona ace Ansu Fati. The Spaniard had knee surgery recently and is expected to be sidelined for around four-month. The Catalans will be turning to Dembele to fill in his shoes during that time and as such, Juventus might have to wait until the summer.
