Sevilla set for talks with Juventus over N’Zonzi, says president

Sevilla president Jose Castro insists there is no agreement between Juventus and Steven N’Zonzi but admits the club will sit down with the Serie A champions to discuss a potential transfer.

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has earmarked the signing of N’Zonzi as a top priority this summer in the wake of their Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.

N’Zonzi was heavily linked with a move to Manchester City at the start of 2017 but opted to sign a new deal at the end of January to extend his stay at Sevilla until 2020.

Sevilla successfully managed to increase the French midfielder’s release clause in his new deal, which was was previously set at €30m (£25.8m), and Castro has revealed the two sides are due to sit down and discuss a potential transfer this summer.

“We’re in no hurry,” Football Italia quote Castro as saying outside of Sevilla’s training ground. “We’ll negotiate with Juventus, but we don’t know whether it’ll be this week. I’m not aware of N’Zonzi having an agreement with Juve.

“What’s important is to present a competitive squad, that’s what we want to do and that’s what we intend to do. We need to construct the best team possible and we’ll make a big effort to do that.”

The 28-year-old has established himself as one of the finest central midfielders in La Liga since joining Sevilla from Stoke for £7m in 2015 after six years in England.

Impressively, N’Zonzi averaged more passes per game than any other player in La Liga last season (79.8).

For more stats on Steven N’Zonzi, click here to visit his WhoScored player page