The Bianconeri have never properly replaced the great Andrea Pirlo and would dearly love
to sign the 23-year-old Pescara native
long since touted as his natural successor.
The Old Lady is looking as well as ever. The reigning Serie A champions are already four points clear after just seven rounds of action, top of their Champions League group and have won their last four matches in all competitions without conceding a goal.
The BBC are still operating on the same wavelength, while Beppe Marotta's HD vision is now coming through loud and clear, with Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala having contributed five goals between them in the Old Lady's last two outings.
Miralem Pjanic has also settled quickly into his new surroundings but while it was initially thought that the Bosnian could serve as Juve's new regista, it's become obvious that the €32m signing from Roma is better suited to a more advanced role.
Nowhere was that better illustrated than at San Siro on September 18, when Juve suffered a first league loss to Inter in four years, with Pjanic struggling badly in a defensive midfield role.
Of course, the eagerly awaited return of Claudio Marchisio from injury will provide a ready-made solution to Juve's lack of a bona fide playmaker, while Mario Lemina has been doing a decent job in front of the back three in the injury-enforced absence of the Italy international.
However, if we are saying for the purpose of this series that money would offer no obstacle to the pursuit of a dream signing, the Bianconeri would no doubt make a world-class regista their priority.
Of course, Juve were previously in possession of one of the game's greatest ever exponents of the role, Andrea Pirlo, and the man most often touted as l'Architetto's heir is Marco Verratti.
he pair are obviously different players; Verratti is a far more tenacious tackler. He wins more balls and, it must be said, commits far more fouls than his compatriot. The 23-year-old Pescara native is also a better dribbler, though he is often accused of taking too many risks when bringing the ball out from the back.
However, as former Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti told L'Equipe last year: "It's just in Marco's personality. If he didn’t [take risks], then he wouldn’t be Verratti. He has all the qualities to become the successor to Pirlo."
Verratti's temperament remains a concern. He lacks Pirlo's remarkable composure and unerring ability to dictate the tempo of the most high-profile of games. As the 37-year-old famously once wrote: "I don’t feel pressure... I don’t give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of Sunday, July 9, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup."
Still, Verratti is absolutely fearless. He exudes confidence on the field and would have no problem being tasked with the responsibility of running the Juve midfield. "Verratti is a player of great personality, small but at the same time mean," former Bianconeri defender Ciro Ferrara told Omnisport in January. "Again, he has a big personality, but he didn't obtain it now, he had it already five or six years ago."
Juve know that full well, having tried to sign Verratti in 2012 before he departed for Paris, and - encouragingly for the Bianconeri - resurrecting a deal for Verratti is not beyond the realms of possibility. He has already publicly started that if he were to leave PSG, it would be to return to Italy. Furthermore, while he recently extended his contract with the Ligue 1 champions until 2021, he is one of a number of players struggling to the methods and tactics of new coach Unai Emery.
"In Paris, Verratti is playing just behind the strikers, but it's not the right position for him,” Italy boss Giampiero Ventura told reporters earlier this season. "He is a playmaker. He is not happy at PSG.
"It's a shame because Verratti is an amazing player."
And one that Juve would dearly love to take to Turin should the opportunity ever arise.
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