The Moroccan center forward would bring quality and, above all, physicality to Spalletti, who is preparing to change the team’s structure.

First: we need a striker. Second: we need one who knows how to occupy the penalty area like a “true” number nine. The Bianconeri’s winter transfer market has taken an unexpected turn, dictated by circumstances: if you don’t score after having the ball at your feet for 78 percent of the game (see Cagliari) or if you only score once after trying 26 times (see the afternoon with Lecce at the Stadium), you can’t help but sound the alarm. The En-Nesyri deal was born at the express request of Luciano Spalletti: the agreement was reached at the end of October, when the former Azzurri coach signed an eight-month contract, but if you want to finish in the top four in May, something had to happen, and it did.
En-Nesyri is a 6-foot-2 center forward who won two Europa Leagues with Sevilla, caught Mourinho’s eye, and joined Fenerbahce with Mou: not your average story. In Turin, he will bring that ability to sense the opponent’s goal that David and Openda lack: Conceiçao and his teammates’ pirouettes to reach the back of the field could translate into sweet invitations for the Moroccan striker’s head. Yes, the head. En-Nesyri is someone who knows how to get up high, and if he does, it’s trouble for anyone who tries to get in his way: from 2016 to 2024, he scored 20 goals from crosses from the wings in La Liga, second only to Karim Benzema, who scored one more in the same period. Goals and movement: the perfect equation. We are not talking about a football superstar, but someone who knows how to turn what the team thinks or builds into gold: a plan A that becomes the classic plan B if space is reduced or disappears during the contest. En-Nesyri provides depth because he knows how to defend the ball like Vlahovic when the Serbian is on form: not defending it is a problem for Spalletti in light of a style of football that also requires a lot of stamina and balance.

quality—  Barring any last-minute complications, the white smoke from Istanbul is expected today and will provide Spalletti with new tactical solutions. “Can David play as a second striker behind the first? Yes, he can…”, was the Bianconeri coach’s response on the night after Benfica. Translated: the quality of the Canadian center forward, skilled in communicating with those around him, can push him a few meters further away from the goalkeeper and make him an excellent player with new tasks. The winter transfer market is heating up for Juventus, and the first move could prove to be the most valuable: if we are indeed down to the details, the arrival of En-Nesyri will have the effect of changing Spalletti’s laboratory in a significant and innovative way.