By Ewah Chika.
110 Seria A games and 11 goals is impressive for any defender and that is exactly what Juventus need right now which is the reason why the fans of the Old Lady are in jubilant mood after it was announced that Max Allegri's side have signed former Bayern Munich's centre-back Medhi Amine El-Mouttaqi Benatia on a season long loan for €3 million with a view of making it permanent for €17
million at the end of the season .
With the release of Uruguayan Martin Ceceres, Juventus are short in central defence hence the need to sign a solid centre-back. At 29, Benatia is in his prime and joins Juventus with a winning mentality having won the German Bundesliga back to back since joining them in 2014 summer. The centre-back was one of the best centre-backs in Italy during his time with both Udinese and Roma before leaving for Bayern Munich for €26 million . In Juventus, Benatia will likely play back up to the trio of Chiellini, Barzagli and Bonucci considering his fitness problems for the past two years. This is likely to change if he regains match fitness as the Moroccan is a class above Barzagli who is the trio's weakest link.
Benatia is a defender whose tackling is near perfect coupled with his concentration and aerial ability. He is also a bit similar to Bonucci in terms of ball playing and can easily bring the ball out of defence, pushing attack from defence. The signing of the former Marseille centre-back is also good news with regards his ability to play in a three man defence as he did under Pep Guardiola in Germany. Considering his loan fee of €3 million in a highly inflated transfer market where untested and inexperienced centre-backs like John Stones (Everton) and Ayremic Laporte (Atletic Bilbao) are all valued above €50 million by their respective clubs.
With all these strengths , one area that might hinder the success of the defender is his slow pace and fitness considering he made only 29 appearances for the Bavarian club In his two years at the club. This really shows that Juventus are taking a big gamble signing a player who has struggled with injury and unable to play at the very top level for sometime. This is something Allegri must have deeply thought about and should be aware of before signing the centre-back who was heavily linked with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea all through this summer .
If managed effectively and his fitness level maintained then it is safe to say that Mehdi Benatia will be a big success in Turin.
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