Rumour: Manchester City's Matija Nastasic in line for Juventus move, Arsenal set to miss out

Matija Nastasic in action for Manchester City

Italian champions Juventus have turned a keen eye on Manchester City outcast Matija Nastasic as they look to bolster their options at the back, according to reports.

The Serbian youngster has fallen out of favour with City manager Manuel Pellegrini and now seems to have been deemed surplus to requirements at The Etihad.

The 21-year old started his City career on a bright note, dislodging England international Joleon Lescott to form a formidable partnership with club captain Vincent Kompany under Roberto Mancini. Pellegrini’s arrival at Eastlands has however seen the ex-Fiorentina man’s stock plummet as the manager sought more stability at the back.

The Serbian now sees himself as the fourth/fifth choice at centre-back for the Citizens with City further strengthening the defence with the new signing of Elaquim Mangala from Porto for a British transfer record fee for a defender.

In a recent interaction with the media, Pellegrini spoke about Nastasic’s future at the club, which seemed to suggest that his future lay away from the Etihad.

“Matija needs to play. We already have four centre-backs, Demichelis, Kompany, Mangala and Boyata, as well as four full-backs.

“So we will see in the next few days what happens with Nastasic. He is an important player, but he has offers and I think the best thing for him is to play.

“We will see what happens, but we have until the end of August to see what kind of offers we get for Matija.”

Nastasic had earlier been linked with a move to fellow Premier League rivals Arsenal following the departures of Thomas Vermaelen and Bacary Sagna earlier this summer.

However, now it seems that Juventus are ready to jump the queue on the young prospect with Maximilano Allgeri ready to make him the future cornerstone of the defence at Turin.