Like a number of top clubs before them, Serie A Juventus have dipped into the Porto talent pool to find their next signing.
The Italian champions have confirmed the signing of Brazilian left-back Alex Sandro from the Portuguese club. Per Juve’s official website, the Bianconeri will pay €26 million over three years for Sandro.
The Brazilian won two Primeira Liga titles with Porto and also claimed the Copa Libertadores with Santos in his native country. He has also been capped six times for the Selecao and also won the U-20 World Cup.
A new role for Evra
It is likely that Sandro’s arrival will force Patrice Evra into a reserve role. This will be beneficial for both, as the ex-Porto defender will get plenty of matches while Evra can stay fresh. The move also gives the team sufficient depth at left-back to sustain an entire season’s worth of competitions.
Apart of Evra, the team didn’t have any real depth. Paolo De Ceglie was the only other natural left-back, but he sits at the periphery of the squad. Giorgio Chiellini and Kwadwo Asamoah can both masquerade as left-backs, but both are better suited elsewhere. Additionally, Chiellini starts in central defense while Asamoah may be needed in central midfield thanks not only to the losses of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal, but also because of injuries to Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio.
How will Sandro improve them?
With Juve looking to make deep runs in domestic and continental competitions, the team will need all hands on deck. Adding a player of Sandro’s quality will surely help the team in that regard.
The team’s brass can now focus on adding a playmaker to operate behind the strikers. An additional left-back and a classic number 10 were the team’s only real needs, and now it seems they’ve satisfied one of them.
The best teams in Europe have all kinds of depth and are able to rotate players in their squad without missing a beat. Seeing as Juve made the Champions League Final with Evra and have now added Sandro, it would appear they have that kind of elite depth.