Roma winger Miralem Pjanic. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chelsea could miss acquiring the services of Roma's Miralem Pjanic this summer as newly-crowned 2015-2016 Serie A champions Juventus are rumored to have recently reached out to the Bosnian midfielder.
Caught Offside indicated that Juve head coach Massimiliano Allegri already "talked to Roma playmaker Miralem Pjanic about a move to Turin this summer" which led to speculations that the Bosnian's €38 million buyout clause was about to be activated at the end of the season.
I Giallorossi issued an official statement last Saturday saying that the allegations were untrue, which momentarily doused the said rumors.
However, the article also mentioned that according to a local Italian paper, Allegri personally reached out to Pjanic to try and lure him to the five-straight Scudetto winners' side, saying that the manager has great plans for him next season.
The rumors are interesting, though, as Roma played excellently during the second half of the just concluded season with Pjanic enough to be one of Juve's challengers for the title. This means that the possibility of Roma selling the 26-year-old midfielder is slim.
New La Maggica head coach Luciano Spalletti, who took over from Rudi Garcia in January, is said to be keen on retaining Pjanic next season, which could be a threat to either Chelsea or Juve's plans this summer.
SkySports reported that incoming Blues manager Antonio Conte is "interested" in snagging Pjanic from Italy.
There were rumors that Pjanic's recent vacation in London is actually a meeting between him, his representatives, and the Stamford Bridge residents, although there are no confirmations of the speculations' reliability.
Conte had already signed a three-year contract with Chelsea earlier this month and as soon as the Italy national team manager is done with the European Championship in France in the summer, he will take over from interim head coach Guus Hiddink at the Stamford Bridge.
Unlike Juventus, Chelsea was unsuccessful in defending their English Premier League title this season after having a sluggish start with former head coach Jose Mourinho.
Hiddink became the temporary manager at the end of December after Mourinho was sacked and, like Roma, led the Blues to a magnificent run in the second half of the season. They only managed to just finish ninth in the league table, though, as they are already too deep in the standings by the time Hiddink took over.
