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Juventus have put themselves in “pole position” to secure the services of Man City left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri ahead of the January transfer window, according to reports in Italy.
The Algerian international has not played a single minute in the Premier League so far this season, with head coach Enzo Maresca preferring other options.
Ait-Nouri did not even make the bench for the Manchester derby, although he was back in the squad for the 5-3 win over Sunderland last Sunday.
Gazzetta Dello Sport claim that Juve are looking to take advantage if the defender pushes to leave the Etihad to get more game time.
Why has Ait-Nouri fallen out of favour?
The defender struggled to establish himself during his first season at City when Pep Guardiola was still the manager. The emergence of Nico O’Reilly certainly didn’t help his cause.
Ait-Nouri was hoping that a change in the dugout would alter his fortunes, but things seem to have got worse for him, with O’Reilly and Josko Gvardiol both ahead of him in the pecking order.
He has impressed when given minutes, grabbing an assist after coming on as a substitute in the Champions League fixture against Porto, as well as creating 2 of the 5 goals after starting the Carabao Cup third round tie versus Norwich City last week. However, he didn’t play at left-back in either of those appearances.
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Juventus want to loan the Man City defender
Gazzetta Dello Sport report that the Bianconeri are only looking for a temporary deal, which may or may not include an option to buy. Their chief executive Giovanni Carnevali and sporting director Frederic Massara would prefer to delay any decision to sign him on a permanent basis until the summer.
City would probably only sanction such a move if a sizeable loan fee is included, and Ait-Nouri doesn’t win his place back over the next few months.
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