With the Serie A season finally underway, it seems both Juventus and Inter Milan are keen on strengthening their squad - and the target is 21-year-old French midfielder Mario Lemina.

Calciomercato.com is reporting that Juve met with Lemina's representatives to talk personal terms while Sky Sport Italia states that Inter directors also met with Lemina’s agents.

A pricey youngster, is he worth it?

The French youth international and box-to-box midfielder would cost €12million euros, per Calciomercato.com.

He scored two goals in 23 appearances last season for French giants Olympique de Marseille. He’s improved this season, to the point of starting each one of Marseille's first three fixtures. Over those three games, Lemina completed 87.9% of his passes whilst his WhoScored rating was 7.09.

French talent with plenty of potential

Additionally, the midfielder comes with a bevy of international experience. Lemina won the Under-20 World Cup in 2013 with a Les Bleus roster that also included the likes of Paul Pogba, Kurt Zouma, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Florian Thauvin, Lucas Digne and Yaya Sanogo

Should the Frenchman join Juventus, he would once again link up with Pogba. The Bianconeri are short on central midfielders after the departures of Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal, in addition to injuries to Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio. Lemina would give the team three dynamic central midfielders to build around with Pogba and Stefano Sturaro.

Another familiar face awaits Lemina should he head to Milan - Kondogbia moved to the Nerazzurri from AS Monaco earlier in the transfer window. Similar to the situation with Pogba, Kondogbia and Lemina would give Inter a solid midfield pairing to build around for the future. His arrival would be especially welcomed given Mateo Kovacic's recent departure to La Liga powerhouses Real Madrid.

Not only would the Frenchman provide Inter with a building block, he would also represent yet another high-profile signing for Roberto Mancini, who has already signed Kondogbia as well as former Atlético Madrid centre-back Miranda. Additional reinforcements were brought in on loan with Martin Montoya joining from Barcelona and Stevan Jovetic signing on a temporary deal from Mancini’s former employer, Manchester City.

Lemina clearly has options should he look to leave Marseille. Both Juve and Inter should offer him playing time and the chance to grow as a player. 

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About the author
Ben Rosener
Ben Rosener is a sports writer born and raised in the greater Seattle area. He is a college who is the editor and founder of two sports websites, Kingdome of Seattle Sports and Know Hitter, the latter of which is a member of the BBA. Ben’s work can also be found on the digital pages of Bleacher Report, USA Today, World Soccer Talk and FanSided among others. He only refers to himself in the third person for bios.