How Fernando Llorente would fit in at Juventus

Date: 20th August 2012 at 11:45pm
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Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao looks on during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou on February 20, 2011 in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona won 2-1. (February 19, 2011 – Source: David Ramos/Getty Images Europe)” width=”285″ height=”190″ />

With the transfer of Robin van Persie from Arsenal to Manchester United completed this past week, Juventus have now solely turned their attention to Athletic Bilbao’s Fernando Llorente.

The reining Serie A champions are in search for a top, line-leading striker, and the Spainsh international is the exact player sporting director Beppe Marotta wants to sign.

Bilbao are playing hardball, however, demanding that Juve must pay at minimum €20 million for the Pamplona-born hitman or trigger the player’s €36 million release clause.

As of last Friday, Juventus had a €16 million bid rejected, and the Bianconeri have yet to respond to a counter offer totaling €22mil.

Although not an ethnic Basque, Llorente joined Bilbao’ academy at age 11 due being born in the region of Navarre, which is considered part of the historic Basque Country. The 27-year-old made his debut for the first team 16 January 2005 in a 1-1 draw against Espanyol. From there he featured in 20 total matches that season scoring six goals in all competitions. He would go on to increase his goal tally each season for the next five seasons, eventually enjoying his best campaign last year.

In a season where the Basque club would finish runners-up in both the Spanish Cup and the Europa League, Llorente found the net 30 times in a staggering 53 matches. ‘The Lion King’ would finish fourth in the Europa League scoring charts and sixth in the ‘Pichichi’ standings in addition to earning a call-up to the Spanish national team for Euro 2012.

Should Juventus accept Bilbao’s demands, they would have the prima punta the Old Lady has been craving for the past two seasons. Llorente’s main attribute is his physicality; standing at nearly six and a half feet tall, the striker scored off more headers last season in La Liga than any other player. Considering Juventus’ two primary formations utilise width, Llorente will thrive on the service from the likes of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Paolo De Ceglie, and Simone Pepe. He can easily play as the focal point in a 4-3-3 or alongside a seconda punta in a 3-5-2.

Another strength of Llorente’s is that he likes to hold up the ball and lay it off to runners careening into the penalty area. Players that like to make runs from deep, such as Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal, will be the main beneficiaries of such play regardless of formation. When Llorente plays next to either Mirko Vucinic or Sebastian Giovinco in a 3-5-2, the potential to play slick one-twos will cause the opposition defense many headaches. Long balls played to Llorente will draw defenders out, leading to the opportunity for quick layoffs into the exposed space for onrushing attackers.

While Llorente is not as mobile as a Robin van Persie or even Edin Dzeko, he is deceptively quick in spite his size and can get in behind the defense. To use a tired cliché, Llorente does indeed have good feet for such a big player; one would only need to see his goal against Manchester United in Bilbao as proof, a fantastic one-time volley into the far post. Also to Llorente’s advantage is the year he spent playing under Marcelo Bielsa with Los Leones; although Juventus doesn’t play as an intense a game as Bilbao does, they still use high pressing, quick passing, and the requirement that attackers put in their fair share of defensive work.

In addition to the question of how Llorente would fit in at Juventus, there is also the issue of the status of other strikers within the squad. The two players most likely to leave should the Spaniard arrive are either Alessandro Matri or Fabio Quagliarella. Giovinco’s and Vucinic’s spots are safe considering they are both support strikers. Quagliarella is the more likely of the two to be transferred out since Matri is more similar to Llorente and would probably act as his reserve. Young striker Richmond Boakye will probably go out on loan somewhere either in Serie A or B to gain playing time and develop properly.

Llorente would be the perfect signing for this Juventus considering what they are looking for and their style of play. He is a big, strong prima punta that can lead the line on his own or play alongside another striker. Marchisio and Vidal, two midfielders that love to make late runs into the area, will thrive off of Llorente’s knockdowns and lay-offs, as will Giovinco and Vucinic.

Although coming off a particularly exhausting season, Llorente will have had a fair amount of time to rest considering that he didn’t feature in one minute of Spain’s successful Euro 2012 campaign. The striker was not called up for Athletic’s match against Real Betis over the weekend, further fueling speculation that he is on his way out of Bilbao. Should he find his way to Turin, Juventus may have found the striker they have so desperately wanted for so long.

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2 responses to “How Fernando Llorente would fit in at Juventus”

  1. Duck Manson says:

    Idiotic keeping Matri instead of the 10 times more talented Boakye. Typical Juventus to not give young players a chance.

  2. Joe Lascari says:

    Duck, they let Giovinco go and get his playing time at Parma, why not do the same with Boakye? Looks like it worked out pretty well for Seba and for Juventus.

    Matri would be a great backup to Llorente and is worth more than you think. The man shows up and scores when he’s given the chance, it’s not his fault Conte had a man-crush on Boriello last year.

    Forza Juve!