Juventus left back Alex Sandro’s contract must be up for renewal as he’s once again making noises about a future Premier League transfer while preparing for Brazil’s friendly against Cameroon later today (Tuesday).
“I’d like to play in the Premier League one day. However, I’m happy in Italy right now and I want to continue playing for Juventus.”
-Alex Sandro; source: Football Italia
Sure enough, his contract is up in 18 months.
Incidentally, it was barely 18 months ago that we spent night and day looking for any news about Chelsea’s supposed strong pursuit of the then 26-year-old, with the Blues reportedly willing to break the world record fee for a defender to get him. But Juventus were not budging at all, and the player himself didn’t seem to be all that keen in the end. Meanwhile, Antonio Conte was growing more and more frustrated by the minute, especially once deadline day passed in August and he was left with just Marcos Alonso to hold down the left flank once again (and an out-of-position Kenedy or a wrong-footed Davide Zappacosta). Emerson’s arrival in January did not lift the mood, nor Conte’s future prospects.
Sarri may be working his brand of magic just fine so far, but the reality of the situation remains that Alonso and Emerson don’t exactly fit the bill for many as players of sufficient quality. Alonso may have signed a new five-year contract extension recently, so he’s not going anywhere soon, but Emerson has yet to show good value on his injury-affected cut-rate transfer, let alone seriously push Alonso for playing time.
Of course, given that Alex Sandro’s price tag is expected to be eye-watering (£60-80m was the range in which this rumor was trading back in 2017), his Chelsea ship probably sailed some time ago. If he is to make the switch, it’s far more likely that one of the Manchesters get him.