Matteo Darmian could return to Italy as Juventus have the Manchester United defender in sight to replace Manchester City-bound Joao Cancelo.

Juventus are preparing for some new signings in the summer, but have to deal with replacing a major first-team star. The Sun are reporting on Juventus’ interest in Manchester United right-back Matteo Darmian as they seek a viable replacement for Joao Cancelo who is about to leave the Italian champions.

The Old Lady want to re-kindle their long-standing interest in Darmian after he seemingly fell out of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans. The defender is not expected to feature much for Manchester United next season and is apparently looking for a move away from the club. Darmian was signed by former boss Louis Van Gaal during his time at the helm but has not met with expectations at the club.

In fact, during his four years at the club, Darmian has managed only 76 starts, including only 6 during the 2018-19 campaign. The 29-year-old still has a fight left in him to resurrect his career as he considers his options based on the interest in him from elsewhere. Valencia are thought to be interested in taking him, but there’s also interest from Inter Milan and Juventus.

Juventus bound? (Photo courtesy: AFP/Getty)
Juventus bound? (Photo courtesy: AFP/Getty)

Juventus look likely to win the race for the player, in whom they have had a long-standing interest. For this long, either the player chose, or some circumstances dictated terms, so he continued his fruitless time at Manchester United. Now he may finally get his wish for a move away from the club, and Juventus seem like an obvious choice if they happen to make a concrete offer.

With only a year left on his United deal, the club are looking to offload him, but also trying to include him in deals for players at Italian clubs, In fact, Manchester United are interested in Juventus’ right-back Cancelo and are reportedly prepared to offer €50 million plus Darmian in exchange for the Portuguese. Cancelo, however, looks increasingly poised to join United’s rivals Manchester City.

Cancelo could join Manchester City in the coming weeks. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)
Cancelo could join Manchester City in the coming weeks. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images)

City are expected to make a big money offer for Cancelo in the coming days, and Juventus are prepared to sell the right-back, whom they signed only last summer from Valencia. Juventus are set to rake in a profit on Cancelo and are reportedly preparing a cut-price deal for Darmian to replace the Portuguese.

Cancelo started the majority of the games for Juventus last season and contributed with 1 goal and 8 assists in all competitions. Juventus might go for a younger right-back in case Cancelo does leave, something that looks increasingly likely. Darmian is under consideration for his performances with the national side, but also because he could be a much cheaper alternative to others that are available.

For Manchester United, they face a tricky summer to keep hold of their stars. On the other hand, they need reinforcements and replacements for players such as Antonio Valencia and now possibly for Darmian as well. As for Darmian, a move to Juventus would make sense as he could resurrect a flailing club career as well as re-establish himself on the international scene.

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