Juventus Want to Sign Emre Can and Leon Goretzka

Liverpool midfielder Emre Can has a contract that ends at the end of the current season and has as yet shown no willingness to compromise over demands the club give him an under-valued release clause, one that would set a reckless precedent and damage their ability to negotiate with other players moving forward.

Juventus have been the club most often put forward as a potential destination, and there’s been plenty of talk of a pre-contract agreement being on the horizon. On the Liverpool end there has been a growing resignation—and suggestions they could sign Leon Goretzka from Schalke to a pre-contract in January to replace Can.

That won’t happen, though, if Juventus get their way. Because if Juventus get their way, they’ll be signing both players to pre-contracts in January and bringing them both to Italy next summer on free transfers. No less than their CEO has now confirmed as much in an interview this week with Sky Italia.

“Emre Can and Leon Goretzka are two players with expiring contracts,” noted Giuseppe Marotta. “I don’t hide the fact we are following them both, but so too are many other teams. The will of the players will be decisive. It’s not easy, and when you have to sign a player for Juventus. It’s not easy to find them.”

While the growing buzz out of Liverpool is that the club have become resigned to losing Can and do not expect to sign the 23-year-old German international to a new deal, for their part, Schalke continue to insist that they believe there is a chance of convincing Goretzka to put pen to paper on a new long-term deal.

Along with Liverpool and Juventus, Goretzka has been linked, at least tenuously, to Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Chelsea at various times over the past year, though in recent weeks, with Can’s departure looking increasingly likely, it has been Liverpool who have begun to look his most serious suitor.

For Can, almost all the talk over the past year has been about a potential move to Juventus, though recently the German press have suggested that Borussia Dortmund are interested in bringing him back to the Bundesliga.