Pjanic urges Morata and De Ligt caution amid Barcelona links

Morata
is
currently
on
loan
at
Juventus
from
Atletico
Madrid,
but
reports
suggest
new
Blaugrana
head
coach
Xavi
wants
to
further
bolster
his
attack
by
signing
the
forward
after
already
acquiring
Ferran
Torres.

Barca
cannot
register
Torres,
or
any
other
potential
signings,
until
they
have
offloaded
players
to
negotiate
salary-cap
difficulties,
though
they
have
been
linked
in
recent
days
to
numerous
attackers.

Club
president
Joan
Laporta
seemingly
feels
his
LaLiga
outfit
are
back
in
the
market
after
telling
the
world
that
Barca
have
returned,
with
speculation
even
suggesting
a
move
for
Erling
Haaland.

However,
Pjanic,
who
is
currently
on
loan
at
Besiktas,
called
for
caution
for
any
player
considering
joining
his
parent
club.

He
told
Tuttosport:
“Morata
has
had
an
amazing
career
so
far.
He
played
for
big
clubs
like
Chelsea,
Atletico
Madrid
and
Juventus.
Sometimes
players
need
motivation,
but
I
would
think
twice
before
leaving
a
club
where
they
feel
good.

“Morata
knows
what
to
do,
Barcelona
hired
Xavi,
a
coach
who
knows
the
club
really
well,
I
don’t
know
the
details,
but
I’ve
always
heard
that
Morata
was
happy
at
Juventus
even
if
when
Barcelona
call
you
always
need
to
think
about
it.”

Pjanic
endured
a
torrid
time
after
leaving
the
Bianconeri
in
2020
for
Camp
Nou,
where
he
clashed
with
former
Barca
boss
Ronald
Koeman
and
was
subsequently
loaned
to
Besiktas
at
the
start
of
this
season.

He
extended
his
encouragement
to
consider
any
potential
move
carefully
to
De
Ligt,
who
has
been
a
long-term
target
of
Barca
ever
since
coming
through
at
his
boyhood
club
Ajax.

After
initially
underwhelming
in
Turin
following
his
€75million
transfer,
De
Ligt
has
flourished
under
Massimiliano
Allegri
this
campaign,
ranking
second
among
Juve
defenders
for
minutes
played
in
Serie
A
(1,293),
while
he
last
committed
an
error
leading
to
goal
in
his
debut
2019-20
season.

Indeed,
among
defenders
to
player
700
or
more
minutes
in
this
year’s
Serie
A,
no
player
has
been
dribbled
past
fewer
times
than
De
Ligt
(just
once)
but
his
future
remains
in
doubt.

The
centre-back’s
agent
Mino
Raiola
revealed
in
December
that
his
client
would
be
open
to
new
challenges
away
from
the
Allianz
Stadium,
yet
Pjanic
is
unsure
whether
that
is
the
best
thing
for
De
Ligt.

“De
Ligt
has
three
years
left
in
his
contract
with
Juventus,
he
has
the
right
commitment,
but
I
don’t
know
if
Barcelona
are
interested,”
he
added.

“He
made
a
great
choice
by
deciding
to
join
Juventus
and
work
with
Leonardo
Bonucci
and
Giorgio
Chiellini,
he
is
happy
at
Juventus
and
when
you
are
happy,
it’s
better
not
to
leave.
We’ll
see
if
he
will
have
the
motivation
to
leave.”

Juventus
are
set
to
have
the
pair
available
for
their
home
clash
with
Napoli
on
Thursday,
currently
sitting
fifth
in
the
league
–
12
points
behind
leaders
Inter
ahead
of
their
first
game
of
2022.