Juventus Close in on Bringing Fernando Llorente to Turin

After much speculation regarding the future of Spanish forward Fernando Llorente, Italian club Juventus look set to secure the services 27-year-old for the remainder of the season. The Bianconeri are ready to make the move a reality as early as January as they look to add much-needed firepower to their ranks.

According to Goal.com, The Old Lady is ready to offer €7 million for the services of Llorente. The Athletic Bilbao forward has made no secret of his desire to leave his club and has been on the radar of many of Europe's top clubs for a while now. 

Despite this, however, Llorente's clear desires to leave have been met with reduced playing time in Spain, vastly reducing potential interest of other clubs. Regardless, Juventus sporting director Giuseppe Marotta is scheduling meetings with Llorente's agents to ensure he is able to ply his trade in Italy.

Earlier this year, it was made clear that Juventus were not in the hunt for any big-name transfers in the January transfer window, and although €7 million isn't an excessive amount for a transfer, the arrival of Llorente would surely push out one of Juve's fringe attackers.

Most likely to leave are the likes of Alessandro Matri and Nicklas Bendtner. Both forwards have fallen down Angelo Alessio's pecking order, and the addition of Llorente would not help their cause.

Juventus' form upfront this season has raised many questions in the press. It is no secret that Juventus don't possess a world-class striker per se, but after putting three past Chelsea in the Champions League, is the situation as dire as it is made out to be?

There is no disputing Llorente's aerial ability, along with Andrea Pirlo's long balls and the emphasis on Juve's wing play, is a lethal combination on paper—but I would argue that Juventus could postpone a January transfer and stock funds to bring a world-class forward to the club at the end of the season.

This season Fernando Llorente has started just one game for Bilbao, netting once and turning provider on another occasion. All in all, he has played 11 matches for the club this season off the bench.