With Gianluigi Buffon entering the latter stages of his illustrious career, Juventus will have to address the goalkeeping situation once he has retired.
Wojciech Szczesny joined the Turin giants last summer, and as he continues to play the understudy role this season, the 27-year-old will likely be considered as the all-important replacement.
However, looking even further beyond that with a long-term plan in mind, Udinese youngster Alex Meret is reportedly on their radar, with Calciomercato noting that the Bianconeri remain admirers of the talented starlet and could make a move in the future.
Meret, 21, is currently on loan at SPAL this season where he has continued to impress after overcoming a serious injury.
Albeit he’s only managed to keep two clean sheets in nine games this season, conceding 12, given that they’re struggling at the wrong end of the table, it was always going to be difficult for him to rack up impressive statistics.
In turn, looking beyond the numbers, he has certainly impressed both with his shot-stopping ability and overall goalkeeping qualities which seemingly have continued to keep Juventus interested in acquiring his services.
It’s going to be difficult for any individual to step in and fill the void left behind by an icon like Buffon, but Szczesny may be facing additional competition next season if Juve do indeed have ambitions of signing Meret in the near future.
His parent club Udinese will likely have something to say about all this too, but his form is said to be keeping the big clubs interested and it may be a matter of time before the likes of Juve decide to swoop.
With Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini not getting any younger either, the Serie A champions could be looking at an important rebuild sooner rather than later.