Liverpool apparently failed in their bid to sign one of Serie A’s award-winning players in 2024. He’s heading to Juventus instead.
According to Tuttosport, Monza goalkeeper Michele di Gregorio has agreed to join Juventus for the next season. The 26-year-old was named Serie A goalkeeper of the year for the 2023/24 season.
Di Gregorio has had a fascinating career, beginning at Inter as an academy product. He was unable to break into their first-team, and instead left on a series of loans.
That included two years with Monza in Serie B, where he helped the club achieve promotion to Serie A. Once that was accomplished, he signed permanently due to a buy provision in the loan agreement.
Di Gregorio’s Serie A career has been spectacular, and he is currently widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper in the country. Juventus is on the verge of signing him. They’ve even apparently defeated Liverpool.
LIVERPOOL WANTS DI GREGORIO.
According to the report, Liverpool increased their offer to Monza and Di Gregorio. However, both the club and the player turned down the approaches because they had already reached an agreement with Juventus.
So, what was Liverpool’s plan?
They allegedly regard Di Gregorio as the ideal successor to Alisson Becker. Alisson has had offers from Saudi Arabia, but Liverpool intends to reject them.
Instead, they want Di Gregorio to serve as Alisson’s backup for the next few years. He would eventually replace him as Liverpool’s number one goalkeeper.
This shows that the Reds wanted the Italian to replace Caoimhin Kelleher. The Irishman presently holds that position, but he does not want it; he is not interested in waiting any longer to be a number one goalkeeper.
Is this confirmation that Liverpool will replace Kelleher? Is it just the Italian press utilizing the Reds to raise a player’s profile? The latter, of course, is a widespread practice.
