Juventus' striker hunt exposes a deeper problem than who to buy
Luciano Spalletti's reluctance to pair his two strikers is driving Juventus toward January reinforcements, with Benjamin Sesko, Folarin Balogun and Brian Brobbey among the names under consideration.
Juventus are preparing to add another forward in January, according to Football Italia, with Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko, Monaco's Folarin Balogun and Sunderland's Brian Brobbey all mentioned as possibilities.
The search is a response to a goal-scoring problem that has shadowed the club all season, one that Football Italia links directly to the struggles of Randal Kolo Muani and Nick Woltemade.
Why Spalletti won't pair his strikers
The key detail in the report is not a name but a habit: Spalletti has generally avoided starting Kolo Muani and Woltemade together, because doing so would leave him with no recognised striker on the bench to change the game late on.
That is a squad-depth problem as much as a tactical one. Playing two strikers in the same front line is a system call that commits both bodies from kick-off, and a coach who makes that call needs a third option warming up in case the plan needs resetting at half-time or with twenty minutes left.
Juventus currently cannot offer Spalletti that safety net, which has effectively forced him to treat his two strikers as alternatives to each other rather than a partnership, and has left him short of a late substitution that can genuinely alter a match.
That is the practical reasoning behind the club's push for a third senior forward in January: not simply more goals, but the flexibility to rotate a front line through 90 minutes and across two competitions without the whole attacking structure resting on one fit body.
The contract clocks shaping Juventus' shortlist
Sesko is the most recognisable name but also the least available in the short term, since Football Italia notes he is currently out injured at Manchester United, which complicates any move regardless of interest.
Balogun's situation is shaped by a different kind of clock. His Monaco contract runs only to June 2028, and Football Italia reports that the expectation in France is that he will be sold before his value erodes toward free-agency territory.
His season so far has been modest, with one goal in five Ligue 1 appearances, and he had already agreed to join Everton before refusing to sign after a medical test raised concerns, a deal that collapsed before it was completed.
Brobbey presents the more settled profile of the three. He has scored three times in eight games for Sunderland this season and, per Football Italia, has just signed a contract extension through 2031, which would make any January move a negotiation from a position of strength for his current club rather than a sale forced by expiry.
Eintracht Frankfurt's Younes Ebnoutalib is also named, with eight goals in ten competitive appearances this term and previous experience in Italian football at Perugia, a detail Football Italia frames as relevant to how smoothly he might adapt to Serie A.
Raimondo's injury complicates the boldest option
The most notable name on the list belongs to Juventus already. Antonio Raimondo, on loan at Frosinone after helping the club win promotion from Serie B, has scored nine goals in eleven appearances across Serie A and Coppa Italia this season, a loan-to-buy arrangement that still leaves him owned by Bologna.
That production is exactly the kind of return a parent club hopes to see from a development loan, and it would ordinarily strengthen the case for an immediate recall in January rather than another external signing.
But Football Italia reports he has sprained his ankle, and a lengthy layoff could push Juventus toward the external market instead of banking on a player who may not be match-fit when the window opens.
That timing problem is itself instructive: Juventus' January business will likely be decided less by who is the best fit on paper and more by who is actually fit, under contract on workable terms, and available to travel in the next two months.