Juventus want to sell Pjanic as Man City, Chelsea and Barcelona weigh up bids

Juventus are preparing to sell Miralem Pjanic following approaches for the Bosnia international from the Premier League and Barcelona.

The Italian champions value Pjanic at around €80million and see the interest in the midfielder as an attractive opportunity to raise funds following Cristiano Ronaldo’s record transfer from Real Madrid.

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been looking for high-quality reinforcement in the middle of the park since last year. Failed negotiations over the transfers of Fred and Jorginho saw the pair join direct rivals in Manchester United and Chelsea respectively, leading the Catalan to pursue Pjanic as an alternative.

Barcelona – who are trying to move on a number of fringe players in order to raise revenue for reinforcements – have approached the 28-year-old. New Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri would like Pjanic at Stamford Bridge. According to a senior Juventus source, the club has received attractive offers from England for the player.

Juve committed a total of €120m on transfer fees and FIFA solidarity payments to extract Ronaldo from Madrid; the multiple Ballon d’Or winner signed a four-year contract on a basic €30m salary after-tax. In order to rebalance their finances, the Serie A side are actively trying to move Gonzalo Higuain out of Turin, while taking a pragmatic approach to proposals for other members of the squad.

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Pjanic, like young central defender Daniele Rugani, is in a category of players who Juve would ideally prefer to retain, but will sell if an offer proves “too large” to ignore. The club’s thinking on Pjanic also factors in the Bosnian’s desire for a substantial rise on his €4.5m net salary. Pjanic’s current contract runs until 2021.

Juve have begun working on an experienced replacement for Pjanic in the expectation of his departure. City, meanwhile, have briefed media that they will not overpay for a new midfielder and do not expect to make a high-profile acquisition in the remaining weeks of the window.