Down to Ten Men

The Italian football duo of Lazio and Hellas Verona are preparing for a battle in the quest to sign highly rated defender NicoloCasale. 24-year-old Casale is on a season-long loan deal at Hellas Verona from parent club AS Roma having joined at the start of last season.

One of the reasons why DusanVlahovic made the step up from Fiorentina to Juventus last month was to play Champions League football and he had a first taste when the Old Lady travelled to face in-form Spanish La Liga team Villarreal in their last 16 first leg clash at the El Madrigal on Tuesday night. Vlahovic was named in the starting line-up for the game and it took him just seconds to make his mark.

Vlahovic showed why he's one of the best young strikers in world football when he found the back of the net in 32 seconds after receiving a long ball from Danilo in the Juventus defence. The Serbian international shot into the back of the net on the half-turn after bringing the ball from Brazil international Danilo down on the touch. It was a dream start for the player who was still on the books of fellow Italian football team Fiorentina around a month ago.

Italian football giants Juventus have some ideas on how to replace Argentine forward Paulo Dybala who's time at the club might be coming to an end. The Argentine international has six months left on his current contract with the Italian football team and the latest reports coming out of the media in Italy claimed that the player has not reached an agreement with the Old Lady and he could leave the club in the summer when his contract ends.

Juventus defender Matthijs De Ligt is reportedly a major transfer target for Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona. This is according to the report from Italian football publication La Gazzetta dello Sport. It was disclosed that the Catalan giants don't have any release clause to work with in their quest to sign the Dutch national team player. This means that De Ligt don’t have a release clause in his contract at Juventus. The centre back is said to be number one target for Barcelona ahead of the transfer window next summer.

Italian football giants AC Milan have been forced to change their transfer plan ahead of January after Danish defender Simon Kjaer picked up a knee injury that has left the Rossoneri with just three centre backs.

Danish international Kjaer sustained a serious knee injury during the win over Genoa on Wednesday and he will undergo surgery to correct the problem on Friday. To this effect, Italian football club AC Milan will have to abandon their previous transfer strategy to sign a new defender when the winter transfer window reopens in a matter of a few weeks.

Italian football giants AC Milan have been boosted by the news that Ante Rebic has returned to training in time for him to be part of the squad for the crucial Milan Derby clash with Inter Milan. Milan are the hosts for the Derby dellaMadonninawith Inter at the San Siro on Sunday.

Croatian international Rebic started individual training before he joined his teammates for the remainder of the session. It has been revealed that Milan manager Stefano Pioli will evaluate the condition of the former Eintracht Frankfurt attacker before making a decision on his status for the Inter Milan game. Italian football publication Calciomercato stated that Pioli is optimistic that the player will feature in his squad for the Milan Derby this weekend.