Juventus Set to Offload 4 Big Names in Bid to Deal With Economic Impact of COVID-19

Juventus are prepared to put four high-profile first-team players up for sale at the end of the season as they go about dealing with the financial connotations of the coronavirus pandemic.

The club intends to introduce many cut-backs to help mitigate the inevitable impact, with Fabio Paratici, the club's chief football officer, ready to introduce new measures designed to ensure that no new arrivals at the club have an annual salary in excess of €6m. 

However, many members of the current Juve squad earn more than that figure, and the Daily Mail has reported that the first four names on the chopping block are Gonzalo Higuaín, Douglas Costa, Miralem Pjanic and Sami Khedira.

Pjanic is a player the Bianconeri have already been actively trying to offload, with the club offering the 30-year-old Bosnian to Chelsea and still pursuing a swap deal with Barcelona which could see either Arthur Melo or Ivan Rakitic move in the opposite direction.

Following a bright start under the tutelage of Maurizio Sarri, Pjanic had been replaced at the base of midfield by the more athletic and dynamic Rodrigo Bentancur before the enforced break. He had failed to score or assist in 16 straight games and overall, Juve feel that his performances aren't reflective of his hefty €6.5m salary.

Higuaín is another who would relieve the pressure on the Bianconeri's finances without his
€7.5m salary, and the club are set to chase Wolves striker Raul Jimenez as the unproductive Argentine's replacement.

Elsewhere, Costa's persistent injury woes despite his frightening talent are said to be enough for Juve to part ways with the Brazilian, while it's likely Khedira - who's also struggled with injury this term - will receive the trap door treatment over Blaise Matuidi, due to the Frenchman recently signing a new deal at the club.

If the Turin-based outfit were able to offload the aforementioned pair, that'd take another €12m off their wage books per season.