Rumour Mongering: Juventus Admit They Could Lose Out On Emre Can

With the German’s move to the Serie A champions formerly a foregone conclusion, Juventus are now preparing for disappointment.

The only person who seems to know what Emre Can wants at the moment is Emre Can, and even that can’t even be assumed. Free to sign a pre-contract with another club for the past two months, the Liverpool midfielder has been presumed to be on his way out of Merseyside once his deal runs out this summer.

One of the biggest clubs in Europe—although kind of still a step down from Liverpool (shout out to resident TLO stats guy, Zach for the link to the excellent resource)—in Juventus has been mooted as a respectable destination for the German, with the interest from Italy concrete and professed.

And yet, Can still hasn’t signed for the Old Lady, not least to the confusion of the Serie A giants themselves, with reports claiming an end date to their interest. Now, the club hierarchy appear to be even preparing themselves for the player possibly rejecting them first.

”We know that there are other clubs in the race to sign him,” Juventus general manager, Giuseppe Marotta admitted on Thursday.

”If he decides to come to Juventus, we will be happy, but if he decides to join another team, we will take another chance.”

While Can himself is said to be delaying the decision on whether or not to leave the Reds, or at least the announcement of his intentions, until the end of the season, the likes of Liverpool U18 coach, Steven Gerrard seem to be operating under the assumption that the 24-year-old is already out the door. Reds manager, Jürgen Klopp also doesn’t seem to be standing in his compatriot’s way, openly agreeing to “respect the player’s wishes” either way.

Were Can simply delaying the announcement until the end of the season out of respect for his current club’s top four push, things might make sense (although the side’s performance through the Coutinho debacle has proven Klopp’s squad to be a resilient bunch). However the nervousness from his strongest suitors in Juventus implies that there is still some degree of conflict in the ex-Bayern Munich man’s decisionmaking, even despite the fact that his role in the squad will only diminish with the impending arrival of the likes of Naby Keita and other linked midfield recruits like Napoli’s Jorginho in the summer.

The matter grows truly curiouser and curiouser.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com