Juventus forward Federico Chiesa has made the decision to join Barcelona amid interest from Manchester United, according to Spanish publication Sport (page 2).
The Italy international has entered the final year of his contract with the Bianconeri and he is expected to leave the club this summer after turning down a renewal.
It was recently reported that the 26-year-old was studying a transfer offer from the Red Devils due to the registration complications at Barcelona.
However, there has been a surprise U-turn in the last 24 hours. The attacker is now ‘crazy to sign’ for Barcelona and has parked all other offers.
The Azzurri star earns an annual net salary of €6 million. He is prepared to accept just €4.5m per season so long as he is guaranteed a three-year deal.
Chiesa had a relatively injury-free 2023/24 season at Juventus. He scored 10 goals and provided three assists from 37 appearances in all competitions.
The Fiorentina graduate primarily played from the second striker role, but he can comfortably operate from either wing. His versatility is a huge positive.
Barcelona have looked at signing Nico Williams and Luiz Diaz this summer, but neither of those players are expected to leave before the transfer deadline.
Hence, a stopgap acquisition would be a better solution. Chiesa has been good over the past year after overcoming the side effects of a serious knee injury.
In our opinion, the speculation linking him with United could be agent-driven. The Red Devils have probably been used as a bargaining tool to speed up his transfer from Turin.
United don’t need another winger or a centre-forward as things stand. Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo, Antony and Jadon Sancho can all play from the right wing.
Marcus Rashford, Garnacho and Sancho are options on the left wing. In Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, United have two top-class strikers. Bruno Fernandes can play as a number nine too.
Chiesa, who has been described as ‘world-class‘ by former Italian defender Alessandro Pierini, would unlikely have the assurance of playing time in every game under manager Erik ten Hag.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
