TURIN, ITALY - NOVEMBER 09: Kenan Yildiz of Juventus celebrates scoring his team's second goal ... More during the Serie A match between Juventus and Torino at Juventus Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
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Juventus could be set to lose Turkish wunderkind Kenan Yildiz at the end of the season, even if the club make the Champions League.
The _Bianconeri_ are enduring a bad season under Thiago Motta, and his future is under severe criticism.
The Old Lady have underperformed for much of the campaign, and their meek exit from the Champions League at the hands of PSV Eindhoven increased the scrutiny on Motta, who’s only been in the job since last June.
Moreover, the club have slipped out of the Champions League spots in Serie A, and have been on the receiving end of two consecutive thrashings, first to Atalanta and then to Fiorentina.
There have been rumours of discord between Motta and his players, with some taking issue with his style of management.
Losing out on the top four would be hugely detrimental to Juve’s bottom line come the end of the season.
The club spent in excess of $216 million on players last summer, and many of them have underperformed.
The club’s debt stood at close to $300m for the 2023/24 season, and this was before the spate of spending that took place in July and August.
The club made around $70m for participating in the Champions League this season, and the loss of such revenue next season would be crippling. The need to balance the books is strong, and reports in Italy suggest Yildiz could be the sacrificial lamb this summer, even if the club do qualify.
Yildiz was pinned as Juve’s next big thing. He was handed the iconic No10 shirt by the club, a shirt worn by legendary figures like Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio and Alessandro Del Piero.
Yet Yildiz has fallen down the pecking order at Juve, and has only scored four goals and provided two assists from 28 games in Serie A this season.
Of those 28, he’s started 22 of them and has found himself on the bench more often than in the starting XI in recent times.
For the 3-0 defeat to Fiorentina in Florence, he remained on the bench for the entire game.
Yildiz is believed to be valued around $90m by Juve, and rumours are growing of interest from clubs in England, with [Manchester United reportedly keen](https://www.teamtalk.com/manchester-united/kenan-yildiz-manchester-united-liverpool-arsenal-manchester-city-interest-juventus).
The Turkey international, who signed for Juve on a free from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022, would represent 100% profit for the club if he was sold.
However, the club could attempt to keep him, should Motta leave and the club offload other players instead. Federico Gatti has been linked with a move to Napoli, while Man City could make another approach for Andrea Cambiaso, who was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
Even Juve sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli could be in the firing line, with reports suggesting the club isn’t particularly happy with the manner of his spending spree last summer.
It could be a year of major upheaval for Italy’s biggest side, and Yildiz’s departure would be the one that would hurt the fans most.