Juventus have found themselves in a bit of a predicament with two starting-caliber central defenders done for the season with ACL tears in former Defender of the Year Gleison Bremer and new addition Juan Cabal.
The Bianconeri still have a few quality central defenders available in veteran Danilo, breakout star Federico Gatti, and an even better summer 2024 signing than Cabal in former AC Milan man Pierre Kalulu.
Although those are three good defenders, Juventus could use a fourth man to solidify their depth for the remainder of the Serie A season, as the Bianconeri are among the handful of teams fighting for the title in the most wide open Scudetto battle in ages.
As such, Juve are being linked with a host of possible defensive signings this January, but it also sounds like the Old Lady are prepared to make some sacrifices in order to bring in a new central defender.
One of those suggested sacrifices is youth prospect Samuel Mbangula, who burst onto the scene right from the get-go in Thiago Motta’s first season at the helm, establishing himself as a key option on the left wing after Federico Chiesa’s abrupt move to Liverpool.
Mbangula is just 20 years old and the most talented young winger in the Bianconeri ranks. He’s far from the finished product, but Mbangula has been highly productive in just 321 Serie A minutes this season with one goal and two assists.
Selling Mbangula to make a few million bucks this January so that Juventus can sign a backup center back sounds like a horrible idea. At his age and with 0.84 goals and assists per 90 to go with a pass completion percentage above 90 and a tackles won per game average of 1.94, Mbangula is more valuable to Juve in the future than he is as a transfer asset in the present.
Juventus have fallen victim to so many presumptuous, short-term signing in their recent past, and they have also parted ways with far too many promising young players instead of slowly nurturing them at the Allianz.
Mbangula could be next in the long line of missed opportunities if sold, and even if he only ends up becoming a solid utility backup for Juventus, that holds a lot more value at the left wing position than, say, a 30-year-old journeyman fourth center back.
If Juve are able to find a great center back option this January, then maybe an Mbangula sale can be justified. But with Real Madrid pursuing center backs amidst a worse injury crisis after Eder Militao’s torn ACL, Juve could be left with the “sloppy seconds” if the Merengues snap up Aymeric Laporte (who is himself fraught with risk as a 30-year-old signing) and Castello Lukeba.
Most teams aren’t going to sell a valuable center back in the middle of the season for the same reason most teams aren’t going to sell a promising 20-year-old forward after a few months.
The risk-reward ratio with sacrificing Mbangula is off. He might only net Juve 10 million euros this winter, and even a mediocre veteran center back would cost 20 million euros, especially since the selling team would see that Juve are desperate.
Juventus have to make sure they aren’t repeating past mistakes and making sacrifices on their long-term success for a short-term gain that isn’t even of any notable significance.
