Is Juventus Making a Mistake By Targeting Luis Suarez?
4 min readWhile all the talk in Barcelona is currently surrounding Lionel Messi’s potential exit from the club, it seems that new manager Ronald Koeman has already had his say on which players he will be relying on and which ones are free to find another team.
It looks like Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez falls into the latter category and a lot of news reports are coming in that he has already agreed to terms with Italian giants Juventus.
On the surface, it looks like a major coup for the Turin side but in this post, I explore all angles of this potential deal and share my thoughts on whether going for Suarez is the right move for coach Andrea Pirlo and his team.
Will Luis Suarez Join Juventus?
Every deal involving world-class players like Suarez is tough.
Both Barcelona and Juventus are far from being in a good financial state and it will be hard to please both sides.
However, I feel Juventus have the upper hand here as the player is obviously eager to join the club and there is a possibility for the Turin side to lure him in as a free agent.
This can be massive for Juve in this current economic climate and with the huge wages that Suarez is surely going to command if a move does happen, paying no transfer fee to Barcelona would be an incredible deal.
It does not benefit Barcelona too much but given how the player has been deemed as a surplus to requirements and the fact that they are surely going to pressure Juventus into agreeing on adding performance-related bonuses in the contract, it might be the best move for the Catalans.
With all the turmoil surrounding the club and the president, it will be ill-advised for them to invite more controversy.
So, if you ask me, it is highly likely that the transfer will materialize. However, the main question from the title still stands and I share my opinion on whether Luis Suarez is the right man for Juventus in the next section.
How Will Luis Suarez Fit In at Juventus?
There’s hardly a person out there who will dispute Suarez’s football qualities.
At his peak, he was regarded as one of the top strikers in the world and his goalscoring record speaks for itself.
The Uruguayan has scored 418 goals in 646 club appearances and has a tally of 59 for his national team.
These are monster numbers worthy of a generational talent that Suarez surely is. However, there are a couple of things to consider here which should worry Juventus fans.
First of all, Suarez is already 33 and we simply can’t expect him to produce the same high-energy performances we’ve grown accustomed to.
His instinct for goal will never go away but I feel he will find it hard to consistently challenge younger athletes in the far more physical Serie A.
Also, it’s very tough to say whether his style can be successful in Italy. The striker has thrived in Ajax, Liverpool, and Barcelona where the dynamics are very different from the tactical and often ultra-defensive approach of teams in the Italian league.
And that’s only the technical side of things.
Luis Suarez has had his fair share of odd moments throughout his career, none more memorable than when he bit Georgio Chiellini’s arm at the 2014 World Cup.
If his move to Juventus does happen, it will be interesting to see how we will be welcomed by the veteran defender.
There are rumors that Suarez has phoned Chiellini to speak about the incident which is a step in the right direction if true but it will take much more from the Italians in the squad to warm up to the striker.
Additionally, there are already several huge egos at Juve with Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, and Gonzalo Higuain.
Adding another player of the kind can be explosive, especially when they will all be competing for a place in the starting lineup.
And most of all, it would be a very hard test for newly appointed manager Andrea Pirlo to get the right balance and chemistry in the dressing room.
Overall, I feel that getting Luis Suarez on a free even at 33-years-old can be a great deal, I just think that Juventus may not be the best place for him.
I can understand why the club is targeting him in the current market but I would tread lightly if I was Andrea Pirlo, as his first stint as manager may prove to be a disaster if things don’t work out between Suarez and his teammates.
The post Is Juventus Making a Mistake By Targeting Luis Suarez? appeared first on A Different League.
