Juventus in ‘ambitious’ move for £55m Liverpool target as Newcastle take centre stage for Kalvin Phillips deal

Juventus are wary that Kalvin Phillips could end up staying in the Premier League by joining Newcastle United, and they have therefore begun pursuing Liverpool target Teun Koopmeiners as an alternative midfield signing, according to reports.

Juve boss Max Allegri is in desperate need of midfield recruits in the January transfer window. While he already has Adrien Rabiot, Manuel Locatelli and Weston McKennie in his squad, the manager has seen his midfield options weakened by the absences of Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli.

Pogba is waiting to find out whether he will be banned for four years after failing a drugs test in September. Should that punishment be confirmed, then it could end the Frenchman’s career as he is 30 years old.

Fagioli, meanwhile, was handed a seven-month ban in October for breaching betting regulations, which means he will not play for Juve again until May at the earliest.

Juve are known to be admirers of Tottenham Hotspur star Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, and they were given hope of completing a winter deal for him after Ange Postecoglou opted to use the likes of Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr instead. But Spurs have decided Hojbjerg will not be going anywhere in January, forcing Juve to look elsewhere.

The Serie A giants are one of several clubs monitoring Phillips, who is desperate to leave City next month so he can play regularly again.

READ MORE: Liverpool ‘open discussions’ to ‘lock down’ elite star and end one club’s hopes of blockbuster signing

Although, TEAMtalk exclusively revealed earlier on Tuesday that Newcastle have moved ahead of Juve in the chase for Phillips, having opened talks with City about a possible loan deal.

With the Englishman more likely to head to St James’ Park than Turin, Juve have been forced to look at different midfield solutions.

Juventus, Liverpool both want Atalanta ace

According to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Allegri has now switch his attention to Atalanta star Koopmeiners.

The Dutchman is described as an ‘ambitious’ and ‘complicated’ target for Juve, as a move for him will involve them raiding Serie A rivals Atalanta.

As Atalanta will not want to strengthen a direct competitor, they will likely charge Juve more than the going rate for Koopmeiners. His value is understood to be £55m, but Juve will likely have to spend more than that sum to agree a deal.

It is interesting that Juve have set their sights on Koopmeiners, as Liverpool are also interested in him. Jurgen Klopp is a fan of the 25-year-old, who has won 20 caps for the Dutch national team.

Of course, Klopp has recently benefitted from a midfield revamp to his Liverpool team, with Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch, Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai all arriving at Anfield over the summer.

But Liverpool could probably still do with adding another defensive midfielder to their ranks to compete with Endo, as Mac Allister’s traits mean he isn’t suited to that role.

As Koopmeiners can operate as a No 6, No 8 or No 10, he would be a great signing for the Reds. But it seems Liverpool will have to overcome Juve in order to land the star.

Meanwhile, Robbie Savage has ruled Aston Villa out of the title race and named who he thinks will win the trophy out of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City.