Real Madrid: Pirlo sees Isco as key to Juventus Champions League win

Juventus have tasked Andrea Pirlo with regenerating the club after the Old Lady’s Champions League elimination at the hands of Lyon, which led to the sacking of Maurizio Sarri despite the delivery of another Scudetto. It remains to be seen what style of play Pirlo will try and impose on the side after his promotion from the under-23s but it is safe to assume he will try and play attacking football and build around the goal-scoring prowess of Cristiano Ronaldo.

The midfield is an area of the team that will require some work with the departure of Miralem Pjanic and the arrival of Arthur from Barcelona. And it could be that Juventus turn once again to Real Madrid midfielder Isco as they seek a spark of quality in the centre of the park.

La Gazzetta dello Sport republished a quote from Pirlo after Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League last season by Ajax: “To win the Champions League you need a player like Isco. The midfield is the key to everything; you have Cristiano but you need to find a way to ignite him.”

Tonali also on Pirlo's radar

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Juventus have long been linked with a move for Isco, who rarely starts at Madrid with Zinedine Zidane set on his three-man midfield of Casemiro, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. However, it seems unlikely that Juve will be able to raise the funds to land the 28-year-old in the current market conditions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Sporting director Fabio Paratici has previously intimated that the Old Lady may turn their attention to Italy international Sandro Tonali.

Tonali, 20, is one of the brightest talents in Italian football and has also attracted interest from Inter after Brescia were relegated at the end of the 2019-20 season. However, a call from Pirlo – to whom Tonali has been likened and who also started his career at Brescia - could convince the midfielder to move to Turin.