Juventus may find themselves with one less striker heading into next season. According to reports from The Mirror, Fernando Llorente is the mystery striker that Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal eluded to signing.

While a potential Premier League move would make sense for Llorente given his prowess in the air, it makes even more sense for Juventus to sell high on a player they originally signed for free.

While Llorente’s physicality is greatly appreciated on free kicks and set-pieces, the Spaniard slowly lost his grip on a berth in the starting 11 - eventually conceding the position to countryman Alvaro Morata.

As it stands, starting Llorente over Morata on a consistent basis would infringe on Morata’s development, something that must be avoided at all costs, given the youngster’s tremendous potential and already present skill. Going on that, Llorente would strictly be a squad depth player.

Juve have plenty of depth up front

Despite Carlos Tevez’ departure, Morata is still surrounded by an immensely talented group of forwards. Fellow wunderkind Paulo Dybala figures to see heavy minutes in a similar role to Tevez, while defensive battering ram/goal scorer extraordinaire Mario Mandzukic recently arrived from Atletico Madrid. This isn’t even to mention incumbent youngster Kingsley Coman, as well as another new arrival, Simone Zaza.

To make matters worse for Llorente’s prospective playing time, Mandzukic is just as adept, if not more so, as an aerial presence—lessening the need for Llorente.

As of now, it probably isn’t a stretch to say Llorente is Max Allegri’s fifth or even sixth-string striker. Juve should sell him to Manchester Untied for the first significant offer they receive.

Thanks to last season’s run to the Champions League Final, Juventus have cemented themselves as a legitimate contender in Europe—this means keeping up with their rivals and improving the squad year in and year out.

The team has done this, to an extent, this season. Dybala, Mandzukic and Zaza have arrived to bolster the forward position, while midfielder Sami Khedira and goalkeeper Neto also signed (albeit on free transfers).

Still, the reality is that Juve has spent a significant amount of cash. The only money that’s been transferred to Turin has been that generated from the sales of Angelo Ogbonna and Tevez. Selling Llorente to Manchester United would help Juve make up for some of the cash spent on their new arrivals.

Juventus need the cash, not only to recoup on spent money, but to spend a high-profile number 10. Selling Llorente would make that more of a possibility, while also clearing room in the squad for new arrivals.

The Spaniard has been successful during his time in Turin, but as the old adage states, “all good things must come to an end.” Juventus need cash for a number of reasons, and selling the surplus Llorente to United provides the team the best way to obtain that cash.