Who is Juventus’ Cypriot teenager tempting Man United?
Published:
Jose Mourinho sending Manchester United scouts to watch Juventus matches is nothing out of the ordinary, but when the player the talent-spotters are observing is a Cypriot teenager it tends to raise eyebrows.
The Portuguese is keeping close tabs on the Italian giants’ Grigoris Kastanos according to the Daily Express .
The 18-year-old has three international caps for his country and 10 more at various Cypriot age groups, but is yet to make a first-team bow in Turin.
Nevertheless the attacking midfielder is impressing for Fabio Grosso’s U20 Primavera squad and scored twice against Manchester City in last season’s Uefa Youth League.
In total Kastanos has made 46 appearances for the Old Lady’s youth team, notching 12 goals and laying on four assists.
The teenager made his Cyprus debut last year, playing six minutes against Belgium in a qualifier for Euro 2016.
His next outing was a mere two minutes against Andorra three months later but he logged 78 in the recent international break, playing against the Belgians once again.
The Express believes Kastanos is under contract negotiations with Juve, as he wants his buy-out clause risen to £17m. However the paper don’t envisage that new deal putting United off.
Trade lines between the Old Trafford outfit and Juventus are still fresh, with the former lining the latter’s pocket with a world-record fee for midfielder Paul Pogba earlier this summer.
A deal for Kastanos will not be anywhere near as hefty, nor will the midfielder walk straight into Mourinho’s starting XI like the Frenchman did.
Pogba has had a tough start to his United return, and was singled out for some criticism as his side fell to defeat in the Manchester derby.
We go 8/15 that he and his teammates bounce back with a victory against Watford.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
