According to reports from Calcio Mercato, Juventus have joined the race to sign Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United target Moussa Dembele from Fulham.
The France U20 striker joined the Craven Cottage ranks from PSG in summer 2012 and is starting to deliver on his much-heralded potential, bagging nine goals and two assists in 20 Championship starts this season despite Slaviša Jokanovi?’s slide slumping all the way down to 19th in the league table.
Due to his Fulham contract expiring at the end of the season, the 19-year-old has been attracting plenty of interest over the last few months, with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United particularly keen on prising him away from west London.
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The good news for the Premier League duo is that Calcio Mercato claim Fulham could surrender Dembele’s services for as little as €6million this month, as the prospect of losing him for a compensation fee during the summer becomes an increasingly realistic scenario.
The bad news, on the other hand, is that the Italian publication have just added yet another club to the prodigious teenager’s already lengthy list of avid suitors. Napoli were linked in December and Serie A champions Juventus are now reportedly in the mix as well – with the Old Lady already contacting both Fulham and Dembele’s agent.
Foreign admirers certainly have the upper hand in the race to sign the young striker. Whilst English clubs are only allowed to discuss a contract with Dembele in the summer and would have to pay a compensation fee decided by a tribunal, foreign counterparts will soon be free to open pre-contract negotiations and would only need to cough up a nominal fee as it would count as an international transfer.
That gives the Championship outfit licence to demand more from Spurs and Manchester United than they would Napoli or Juventus.