Pep Guardiola has Rodri and Kalvin Phillips competing for a starting place in the deep-lying midfield role, but Massimo Pavan says Manchester City are interested in Nicolò Rovella – a 21-year-old defensive-midfielder who plays for Juventus but is on loan at Monza.
Rovella set Juve back €26m (£22m) in January 2021 and only has three appearances in all competitions for the Old Lady, so life in Turin hasn’t quite gone to plan. He needs to impress for Monza to stand a chance of starting games back at Juve next season, but Pavan says City are wanting his signature for £25.8m – a loftier fee than he believes he’s worth.
As translated by Sport Witness, Pavan wrote on Tutto Juve: “(Inflating player values) is called a business risk. Rovella at €30m seemed a risk (for Juventus). Today, Manchester City offer more or less that amount to get him (so) who was right? Anyone who doesn’t understand that is an idiot and there are, unfortunately, many idiots around.”
Rovella made 47 appearances for Genoa before his Juve switch and subsequent loan to Monza. He’s featured 11 times since making the temporary move away, but his long-term future may be up in the air if City are keen.
Whether Guardiola needs and wants a third defensive-midfielder with significantly less experience remains to be seen, however, as it makes little sense to sign a hot prospect that won’t get into the team for some time.
In other news, Rico Lewis could struggle for playing time in second half of season
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