Juventus’s transfer window is revolving around two positions — goalkeeper and striker — and on the morning of Tuesday 21 July, both are simultaneously entering what could be their decisive phase. With Randal Kolo Muani’s deal firmly stalled and the post-World Cup window on Dibu Martínez finally open, the hours ahead carry enormous significance for Spalletti’s squad.
Kolo Muani: Still the First Choice, but the PSG Deadlock Has Forced a Pivot
Kolo Muani has not changed his mind. The French striker continues to push actively for a return to Turin, and his desire to play under Spalletti again has not wavered throughout a summer of protracted and often frustrating negotiations. The obstacle remains entirely financial: PSG’s asking price has held firm at well above the threshold Juventus are willing to meet, and despite repeated contacts and Carnevali’s public confirmation of the club’s interest, neither side has blinked.
With that stalemate showing no signs of imminent resolution, Juventus have made a pragmatic decision: they cannot continue to allow one deadlocked negotiation to paralyse their entire attacking rebuild. Contacts have therefore been opened with Manchester United over Joshua Zirkzee — the Dutch forward whose difficult debut season in the Premier League under Rúben Amorim has left his future at Old Trafford genuinely uncertain.
Why Zirkzee Makes Sense as an Alternative
Zirkzee is a player Frederic Massara knows personally from his time in Bologna’s ownership ecosystem, and a forward whose technical intelligence and creative involvement in build-up play have always appealed to the kind of manager — Spalletti included — who demands sophistication from his centre-forward rather than pure physicality alone. At 25, he is at the right age for a significant move, and Manchester United’s willingness to consider his departure at an accessible price makes the financial case considerably more straightforward than the ongoing PSG impasse over Kolo Muani.
Dibu Martínez: The World Cup Is Over — Now Comes the Decisive Moment
With Argentina’s World Cup campaign concluded, the conditions that had previously kept the Martínez negotiation in a holding pattern have now fully changed. The coming hours are described as potentially decisive for a deal that has been the dominant storyline of Juventus’s entire summer. The player himself is now able to engage directly and publicly with Aston Villa over his future — and it is that personal intervention, more than any club-to-club negotiation, that Carnevali and Massara are relying upon to finally bridge the fee gap that has separated the two clubs all summer.
A goalkeeper and a striker. The blueprint for the new Juventus is clear. The pieces, after weeks of patience and positioning, are finally moving towards their places.
