Dusan Vlahovic has rediscovered his form at Juventus, with the Serbian striker showing signs of becoming the consistent goalscoring threat the club has long been hoping for.
Throughout the summer transfer window, it was widely expected that the 25-year-old would leave Juventus and was heavily linked with potential moves to several Premier League clubs as well as Barcelona.
There was even talk that the Old Lady were negotiating with Vlahovic’s agent in order to buy him out of his contract and let him leave on a free. Following the arrival of Jonathan David from Lille, his departure felt like nothing less than an inevitably.
Yet, a move never materialised, and the striker has since found his way back into the club’s good graces. So, how is he turning his Juventus career around?
Why was Dusan Vlahovic so unwanted?
There is a lot of nuance surrounding Vlahovic’s move to Juventus. He signed from Fiorentina in January 2022, at a time when the club were transitioning from the undeniable best side in Italy to a Champions League qualification hopeful.
After years of dominance, Juventus entered a turbulent spell following a decade of success. During their nine-year Serie A title run, they twice reached the Champions League final in three seasons, falling to Barcelona in 2015 and Real Madrid in 2017.
In pursuit of that elusive European crown, the club took a gamble by signing Cristiano Ronaldo to push them over the final hurdle. The legendary Portuguese forward was a success, but they still failed to get their hands on Ol’ Big Ears.
As COVID-19 hit, Ronaldo was already back at Man United before fans were allowed back into Juve’s Allianz Stadium and with club icons like Giorgio Chiellini, Paulo Dybala, and Leonardo Bonucci also leaving, a lot of expectation was put on Vlahovic to lead them back into the light.
Vlahovic has been good at times, his most prolific season came in 2023-24, when he scored 18 goals across 38 games in all competitions, but considering he cost a reported €83.5 million, including add-ons, he hasn’t lived up to the hype, although that’s not entirely his fault.
Are Juventus finally playing to Vlahovic’s strengths?
During his time under Vincenzo Italiano and Cesare Prandelli at Fiorentina, Vlahovic found himself in goal scoring positions far more often than he did when managed by Max Allegri, who is arguably one of the most defensive coaches in the game.
Allegri asked Vlahovic to drop much further back than he was used to in order to come and collect the ball, recycle it to a teammate, and then battle with defenders before finding himself in the type of position he wanted to be.
The now AC Milan manager was replaced by Thiago Motta last summer, largely due to the club wanting to move away from his defensive approach. Vlahovic’s time under Motta was again, inconsistent, but that is largely due to the fact that Juventus were, as a whole, so poor with him at the helm.
Igor Tudor’s set up seems to suit Vlahovic much better. Although he’s no longer the star man, that lack of pressure has allowed for him to come off the bench and score four goals across all competitions, including a crucial brace in their 4-4 Champions League draw with Dortmund.
Across his 168 minutes in Serie A so far, he’s already had nine touches in the opposition box, and had six shots, 50% of which have been on target. Bear in mind two of his four appearances have been off the bench, the Serbian is becoming more clinical.
Tudor’s 3-4-2-1 formation doesn’t require Vlahovic to drop as deep as he used to, the two number tens, usually Kenan Yildiz and Chico Conceicao, are the side’s main creative outlet, meaning the man up top can do what he does best, score goals.
Verdict
Vlahovic has the capability to become a generational striker and now he’s in a side that is playing to his strengths, at least more than they used to, and with a goal every 44.5 minutes so far this season, Juventus would be wise to finally build around him.