Mirko Vucinic Signs With Juventus In £13.1m Deal

Juventus announced today the signing of Montenegro international Mirko Vucinic, ending the clubs long search for an impact striker. The former Roma star will cost the Turin club 15 million euro, a significantly smaller fee than the club had been willing to pay for their previous targets. For Juve supporters, this hopefully signals that other transfers will arrive to strengthen a team that failed to achieve much last season.

Vucinic joins fellow strikers Alessandro Matri and Fabio Quagliarella in the attack, a fairly impressive list, if not one containing the kind of star name Juve fans have been used to. Add to that a bench that contains Alessandro Del Piero, Vincenzo Iaquinta, and Luca Toni and new coach Antonio Conte has a wealth of striking options to choose from.

The Bianconeri certainly moved their way down their striker wish-list to settle on Vucinic. They had previously made much larger bids for Sergio Aguero and Giuseppe Rossi, but failed to close those deals. But in my opinion, this is a terrific bit of business by the Old Lady. Vucinic is a solid and improving player and the price paid for him, as well as the reported payment structure, represents a good value for Juventus.

While the Vucinic signing may not be the sexy signing some Juventi were hoping for, it does seem to indicate the club now has a budget to address other concerns the team clearly has, most notably on the left side of midfield.

In early preseason friendlies, Juve’s first choice right side of Milos Krasic and Stephan Lichtsteiner have looked impressive, but the left side has been somewhat makeshift. Fullbacks Reto Ziegler and Paolo De Ceglie look like solid choices, but the club is without true impact left-sided attacking winger. In past seasons, Conte has shown a devotion to attacking wing-play so it only stands to reason the club could benefit by signing someone for that position.

Earlier in the summer it appeared Brazilian Michel Bastos would be signed to play on the left, but that deal has yet to materialize. In the coming weeks, we can expect the rumor mill in Turin to focus on the teams left wing.

Vucinic joins an increasingly long list of players to join Juventus this summer. The club has already brought in Arturo Vidal, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Andrea Pirlo and Reto Ziegler.