Roberto Maximiliano Pereyra, who was given the nickname of ‘El Tukumano’ due to his origins began his professional career at River Plate in 2009.After 43 appearances for the Argentine club, he made the transatlantic journey to Serie A club, Udinese. In 2014, Juventus took him in, on a season-long loan with a clause to make it permanent and did use that option to buy out his loan for £14m.
Pereyra is predominantly an offensive midfielder who thrives on the wings and has often being compared to Italian-Argentine Juventus winger Mauro Camoranesi. He is a hard-working lad with good hold-up play and his dribbling prowess have caught the eye. A special feature which stood out at Juventus was his crossing which led to him creating a healthy 43 chances for his team-mates. He also scored 4 goals in the 2014-15 season in which he made the most number of appearance for the club along with Bonucci and Marchisio. But his fortunes changed dramatically next season as he was blighted by injuries and poor form which rendered the 2015-16 season a virtual non-starter for him.
Juventus have been in the market looking for reinforcements of their own and for that to happen they need to sell as well. Having been a bit-part player for them last term, Juventus have decided they will offload the attacking midfielder if a club meets their valuation. The Italian club are said to have put a £15m price tag on the player. Napoli have reportedly shown interest and said to be weighing up a bid for the player as they hope he will be in favour of extending his stay in Italy.
But the latest clubs to have come to the picture are the English clubs Watford and West Ham. Watford are supposedly monitoring his situation closely and the Italian connection of the Pozzo family is seen as a factor towards the choice of player. With the recent windfall from the new Television deals from next season on, clubs such as Watford are wading into adventurous transfers which a few years ago would have been a distant dream.
The interested clubs are hoping Pereyra will be able to find the form which was on show in the 2014-15 season and anyone who takes the plunge for this player would be gambling on that fact. The Hornets will be looking at him to reduce the load on their two-man army of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo in the attacking third and the club’s supporters are expected to welcome the move provided, someone more proven in the same price bracket is not available.
