Juventus: Juan Vargas, Michel Bastos, and the Top 5 Left Wings Juve Should Sign

Juventus have thus far had an efficient, well executed summer of transfers.

They've brought in Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo to be their starting central midfield duo, and gotten rid of their temperamental duo of Felipe Melo and Mohamed Sissoko by shipping them off to Galatasaray and Paris Saint-Germain, respectively.  

They're boosted this previously vulnerable defense by signing two quality left backs in Reto Ziegler and Stephan Lichtsteiner, and look poised to give their center back duo of Leandro Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini a great deal of competition by signing Urugay Captain Diego Lugano from Fenerbahce.

Even up front, Juventus have improved their striking options considerably by signing Alessandro Matri and Fabio Quagliarella to permanent contracts following their loan spells at the club last season.

Thus, the only position that remains a doubt for Juventus is the left winger position. Both of the clubs' current decent wing options, Simone Pepe and Milos Krasic, play on the right wing, and Jorge Martinez, the clubs' only left winger, has demonstrated a lack of understanding and a lack of the necessary skill to play the position for Juve.

Thus, in order to find a solution to this problem spot for Juve, we look at the Old Lady's five best options to sign before the end of the summer.

Mirko Vucinic

I know you must be confused by this one. Mirko Vucinic is supposed to be a striker right?

Yes, but the Montenegrin is also a very capable second striker, and more importantly for this slideshow, a decent left winger. He played on the left of a 4-2-3-1 at Roma whenever Roma decided to adopt the formation, and though it wasn't where he performed best, he did manage to put in a decent showing whenever he played there.

Mirko Vucinic would be a great utility player at Juve, capable of playing three different positions in their line, and two in need of better options (left wing and second striker—Del Piero looks set to start at the latter for the hundredth season in a row).

However, Mirko Vucinic is probably not the ideal candidate for this position. Under Antonio Conte, the hope is that Juve's left winger will be able to stretch defenses wider by making deep runs and then crossing the ball or trying to create play from the wide areas of play.

That simply isn't Vucinic's game, who's much more likely to cut in off the left and try to create play from there.

Currently, the Roma forward has been linked heavily with Manchester United and Tottenham, and has expressed his frustration with Juventus' slow negotiating tactics. 

He doesn't seem like a likely candidate, but should no other wingers be signed, he may be better than nothing—another season with Simone Pepe playing out of position.

Michel Bastos

Michel Bastos has been linked with a move to Juventus throughout the whole summer.

Originally a left back, Michel Bastos' speed and trickery on the ball have seen him moved up to left wing for Lyon, and he has generally excelled and been one of the biggest bright spots for Lyon over the last couple of seasons from this position.

Reportedly, according to ESPN, the stumbling block in the deal to bring Michel Bastos to Juve has always been the transfer fee. Juve have made their interest to buy known, Lyon are willing to sell, but Juve are simply unwilling to meet the club's €15 million asking price.

As such, it looks like the Brazilian winger may just remain at Lyon for next season.

Still, should Juve fail to find another decent wingers in the transfer market with a lower price tag, they may decide to splash the cash to find a solution for the final true weak spot in their starting lineup.

Alvaro Pereira

Unlike most of the other candidates on this list, Alvaro Pereira only recently became a transfer target for Juventus.

Pereira is currently a Porto player, and showed up on Juve's radar after his excellent showing at the 2011 Copa America helped Uruguay secure a first place finish.

Pereira currently plays at left back, but there is little doubt that Juve see him as a left wing option. He normally plays very high up the field for club and country, and considering Michel Bastos and one player to be mentioned later in this slideshow have made the transition so effectively, Juve probably think Pereira would make the transition to left wing well too, even at this later stage of his career (he is 25 and entering his prime).

There are a couple of stumbling blocks to getting a deal done though. First, Porto tend to significantly overvalue their players in an attempt to prevent them from being sold (see: Givanildo Hulk), so its unlikely that Juve would get the player for cheap.

Also, there is reported interest from Arsenal in the player as well, and such interest could increase the Uruguayan's transfer fee as well.

Juan Manuel Vargas

Our third consecutive left back/converted left back in this presentation, Juan Manuel Vargas is the second best choice for Juventus at left wing in the market.

Juan Manuel Vargas has been one of Fiorentina's most outstanding and consistent players over the last three seasons. The Peruvian is good free kick taker, has a great deal of speed and agility down the wings, and most importantly, is an excellent ball crosser.

He even has a good eye for goal.

Most recently, he has come off a great Copa America performance, where he and striker Paolo Guerrero led a weakened Peru team to an impressive third place finish in the tournament.

Reportedly, Fiorentina don't seem to have much desire to get in Juve's way, and are simply waiting on Juve to put a bid in for their player.

Vargas wouldn't be cheap, but I don't expect that his transfer fee would be more than €8-12 million. There aren't any other teams expressing interest in signing him, so Juve would be able to avoid the bidding war they may have to face in signing some of the other players on this list with Vargas.

The move is a no-brainer for Juventus, but admittedly, there hasn't been a lot coming from the Juventus camp regarding talks of bringing the player in. Maybe because they are holding out for the top pick on this list...

Diego Perotti

Recently, multiple reports have surfaced indicating that Juventus have made Diego Perotti their top candidate following the stalling of the deal for Michel Bastos.

The Sevilla winger is no longer the 21-year-old prodigy he was when he first burst onto the scene, but he is still a very talented winger with plenty of upside at only 23 years old.

Once again, Juve are trying to bring the winger in on the cheap, for about €10 million, as they look to pay less than the €15 million Lyon were asking for.

Personally, I don't know where Juventus get their numbers. How they expect to sign a huge prospect like Perotti, at 23 years old, with a contract until 2015 for only €10 million (peanuts in today's transfer market) is beyond me.

Personally, I'd say a good value for Perotti would be around €20 million, and even then it wouldn't make much sense for Sevilla to sell considering they just sold his competitor, Diego Capel, to Sporting CP for €3.5 million. If they sold Perotti, they'd have a rather sizable whole at the left wing spot themselves.

The End

That's it. The left wingers are ranked from five up to one based on their appearance on the list. However, given that the likelihood of Diego Perotti transferring to Juventus is rather slim, I'd say that Juan Manuel Vargas would be by far the best purchase for Juventus to make on this list.

What do you guys think? Who have Juventus been linked with that you'd like to see be the starting left winger for the team next season? Anyone (reasonable) that you think Juventus should sign that they haven't been linked with?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

Also, commiserations to all the Juventus fans who had hoped to see Guiseppe Rossi be a Juventus player this season. He would've been a great addition, but alas Malaga CF beat Juve to the punch, and Juventus missed out.