People have been talking about Juventus needing a higher quality of a striker for about two seasons. Scoring 0 goals in their two Champions League quarterfinal matches is more proof of that, and it seems that the next name on the list of potential arrivals is Colombian forward Jackson Martinez, doing quite well for Porto this season.
The 26 year old, fully named Jackson Arley MartĂnez Valencia, has done incredibly well on his first season in European football after being snatched up by Porto from Jaguares in Mexico, paying $11 million for him, beating teams like Manchester City, Liverpool and Barcelona for his services. Although he’s part of what might be a campaign in which Porto do not win the league title, he’s done extremely well to make sure it doesn’t happen, scoring 23 goals, leading the Primeira Liga so far this season, and making it 31 goals in 34 matches in all competitions, including 3 in the Champions League.
Juventus aren’t the only team watching him at the moment, but they are the only ones, according to sources in Portugal, to make an offer for him. Martinez, signed until 2018, has a release clause of €40 million, but the fact that he isn’t tied to a third-party owner like most South Americans on the Porto payroll might means it’s going to be easier haggling for a better price on the side of Juventus.
Aside from Juve, it seems most of Europe’s big clubs, including Barcelona, ​​Milan and Manchester United have shown at least a slight interest in the player who began his career with Indepediente Medellin before moving on to Jaguares in Mexico, scoring about a goal every two matches before moving on to Europe, doing better than he’s ever done before.
Besides Martinez, Juventus have already one big name to their striker-pool next season, with Fernando Llorente due to arrive at the club this summer once his contract with Athletic Bilbao expires.