Boca Juniors defender Leonardo Balerdi has risen to prominence over the past year and is being closely followed by Juventus, who could form an alliance with Sampdoria to snap the promising player up.
The teenager formed part of Argentina’s World Cup warm-up squad to prepare the final group for the competition and won the man of the match award on his senior debut for Boca, helping the side keep a clean sheet.
That has alerted a number of clubs across Europe to his talent and among them are Juventus, who are considering a move for the centre-back, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Boca are on the verge of selling current starting central defender Lisandro Magallan to Ajax, which would open the door for the youngster to gain regular playing time in 2019.
However, Juventus are monitoring him and have already opened a dialogue with Sampdoria, proposing a deal which would see the Italian champions purchase him permanently before sending him on loan to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.
It is a complicated project and one that is only being initially discussed but Juve believe they would be in a good position to swoop for Balerdi given their good relations with Boca following deals for Carlos Tevez and Rodrigo Bentancur in recent years.
Balerdi is a former defensive midfielder who was turned into a centre-back at the age of 15 and Barcelona have already had an offer for him turned down.
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com