SERIE A
“LA VIOLA FANS WILL CERTAINLY MISS THE STRIKER WHO WAS COMPARED TO
GABRIEL BATISTUTA.”
of course has angered the fans at the Franchi. Arguably, the transfer of Vlahovic to Juve was a shrewd piece of business by President Rocco Commisso as the attacker’s contract with I Gigliati was due to come to an end in 2023 and they could have lost him for free. Sporting director Daniele Prade was reluctant to offer the salary that Vlahovic wanted last season, so contract extension talks broke down and the door was left open for the striker to walk out in January. La Viola fans will certainly miss the striker that was compared to their former legendary Argentine hitman, Gabriel Batistuta. For this writer, the comparisons with Batigol were not so much for his style of play but for the way he thundered the ball into the net; some of his goals were certainly reminiscent of the ones smacked in by the long-haired number nine.
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SOCCER360 MAY • JUNE 2022
ABOVE: The young Serb burst onto the scene with Fiorentina BELOW: Allegri hopes to build a team around Vlahovic RIGHT: Juventus' forward Dusan Vlahovic celebrates after scoring the 1-2 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Empoli FC vs Juventus FC
The Belgrade native made a reasonably good start for Juve as he adjusts to being at a club of their size and stature during a period of relative transition, marking his debut with a goal against Hellas Verona in a 2-0 win before a match-winning brace away to Empoli a few weeks later. He also scored in his Champions League debut, a 1-1 draw at Villarreal in February, however his new side crashed out of the competition after a 3-0 defeat at home in the second leg. It will be up to Max Allegri now to develop a game plan that can get the very best out of the forward who admittedly seemed isolated and cut adrift in their Derby d’Italia loss at home to Inter at the start of April. Allegri’s style has been called too negative in the past, so Vlahovic will hope that caution is thrown to the wind, and he gets to lead
