Juventus Confirm Emre Can is a Top Transfer Target

Juventus wanting to sign Emre Can is hardly a secret—it doesn’t have to be, after all, with the Serie A club free to sign him to a pre-contract from January 1st. Still, after previously acknowledging that they were interested in the German international, the Italian club have gone a step further today.

Club director Giuseppe Marotta has told Sky Italia that not only is Can a player of interest, but he’s a key target, a player they will do all they can to sign him away from Liverpool. It isn’t breaking news, perhaps, but it’s further confirmation, and all signs point to Marotta and Juventus eventually getting their way.

“Emre Can is a player whose contract is running down,” Marotta said when asked about Can. “It allows us to approach him for negotiations and that is the course we have taken. I can’t say if he could sign a new contract with Liverpool, but I can say we will try all we can to get the player.”

They like the player. They’re interested in the player. We’ve heard both before. This is the first time they’ve explicitly said they’re negotiating and set out that Can is a key target for them. Meanwhile, the press in Italy seem unconcerned—they think that no matter the delays, Juventus will get their man.

Following a standout performance against Manchester City on Sunday and some cryptic social media messages that turned out to not mean much of anything, Liverpool fans briefly hoped there might have been a change from Can and that the player might choose to remain at Anfield.

While Liverpool still would prefer that, though, the expectation remains that Juventus are heavy favourites to acquire the player on a free this summer—or, confirmation of the seriousness of Juventus’ interest isn’t surprising at this point, it’s Can potentially choosing to remain that would come as a shock.