Scouting Reported Juventus Summer Transfer Target Daniele Rugani

Already comfortably ahead of their domestic competition, Juventus have stolen a march on their rivals by completing much of their summer transfer business before the window has even opened. The Bianconeri have worked quickly to improve upon last year’s squad, at the same time bracing themselves for a number of departures that would have otherwise had much deeper ramifications.

The futures of Carlos Tevez and Andrea Pirlo may yet lie elsewhere, but Paulo Dybala, Sami Khedira and Mario Mandzukic have already been signed by the Italian champions. Another player who could soon be available to Massimiliano Allegri is Daniele Rugani, the defender having enjoyed an impressive 2014/15 with Empoli.

Having initially brought him to Turin on loan back in 2012, Juventus took full ownership of the 20-year-old in February, the club’s official website noting they paid €3.5 million to terminate the co-ownership deal that had previously been in effect.

Rugani spent 12 years with Empoli, joining them at the age of 6 and progressing through the youth ranks, enjoying similar success with the Italian national team along the way. He would spend one season with Juventus, helping them win the Primavera (Under-19s) Coppa Italia in 2012/13 before returning to Empoli for the following campaign.

Under the guidance of Maurizio Sarri, he would blossom into a fine defender, helping the Tuscan club win promotion to top flight as he made 40 appearances in Serie B. That ended a six-year spell in the second tier, and last season saw Rugani thrive against some of the peninsula’s finest attacking talent.

As noted above, he was the only outfield player to play every minute of the campaign, and he did so without receiving a single yellow card. That statistic hints at his excellent ability to read the game as it unfolds before him, and is evident in his play constantly, the player so clearly aware of everything that is happening on the pitch.

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Great tackle from Rugani. #ITA https://t.co/CRd8rzkO5h

— Khaled Al Nouss (@KhaledAlNouss) June 24, 2015"

He earned regular call ups to the Italian national team under Antonio Conte, and at a press conference during October’s break for European Championship qualifiers, Juve’s Leonardo Bonucci gave his opinion of the youngster to reporters (h/t Football Italia):

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Rugani is a player of great promise and is such a good professional. We already noted his quality when he was in the Primavera youth team. He doesn’t pull back and is humble, so over these last few years his growth at Empoli has been exponential.

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Like Bonucci, Rugani was a danger to opposition defences as he netted three league goals, but his main impact was clearly at the other end of the field. Statistics from WhoScored.com show he averaged 2.7 tackles, 1.3 interceptions and 6.9 clearances per game, the latter figure being the sixth-highest among all Serie A players, per the same source.

Squawka.com

As the graphic above—courtesy of Squawka.com—shows, those numbers are no fluke, as he wins an excellent percentage of every challenge he makes. Rugani is also an effective passer of the ball, with the WhoScored website showing he connects with an average of 41.3 passes per game, with his accuracy reaching 87.1 percent last season.

There are still flaws to his game, with the player himself telling Goal.com his “left foot is weak and I have to be quicker on the ball." The first of those points is undoubtedly true, while he must also work on his concentration and quickly eradicate mistakes like the one shown below against Milan.

That is far from an isolated incident, but those issues undoubtedly come with any player that age, and Rugani has proven over the course of his young career that he can improve quickly. Playing alongside the likes of Andrea Barzagli at a club like Juventus would surely expedite that process, and his coach at Empoli is in little doubt of the defender’s talent.

“He’s ready for any club at European level,” Sarri said in an interview with Corriere dello Sport earlier this year (h/t Football Italia). “He’s a star in the making, he’s got everything.” In Daniele Rugani, it certainly seems that Italian football’s grand Old Lady has another gem on her hands.