Juventus submit €16m bid for Fernando Llorente

11 Aug 2012 16:00:00

The Old Lady have earmarked the Leones forward as an ideal signing to strengthen their Scudetto-winning squad, but have no interest in Manchester City left-back Aleksandar Kolarov

EXCLUSIVE
By Romeo Agresti and Renato Maisani

Juventus have submitted a €16 million bid to land Athletic Bilbao's coveted striker Fernando Llorente, Goal.com can reveal.

With Serie A set to resume on August 25, the Italian champions are still searching for a forward, and recent reports have linked the Scudetto winners to a move for the Basque forward, who has scored 69 league goals in the previous five seasons at San Mames.

Goal.com can confirm the Bianconeri's interest, as well as revealing that they have already presented an offer of €16 million for the 27-year-old Pamplona-born target man.

Llorente has not yet renewed his contract with the Europa League runners-up, which is due to run out in 2013, and Atheltic could, therefore, decide to let him go rather than risk losing him for free next summer.

Should Leones president Josu Urrutia accept Juve's offer, the Italian side will then have to persuade Llorente to accept a contract proposal, with the attacker reportedly asking for up to €5m a season, a fee that Old Lady director Giuseppe Marotta would like to reduce.

Meanwhile, the Italians are not targeting Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov despite recent rumours, and would instead prefer to seek Atalanta's Federico Peluso.

A key issue behind the deal is that Kolarov does not hold an EU passport, which has impacted on the Old Lady's interest.