Juventus have reportedly jumped ahead of rivals Inter Milan in the queue to buy Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez.
According to Italian source TuttoSport, the Serie A champions are concerned about the length of time it is taking new arrival Alvaro Morata to recover from a knee injury and will now look to strengthen their options in the final third of the pitch.
They have identified the Mexico international as their first choice target and are ready to capitalise on Inter’s failure to end their long-running pursuit of the forward.
However, if they hit a brick wall with the Hernandez deal, they will turn their attention to Manchester City attacker Stevan Jovetic or Paris Saint-Germain star Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Juve are said to value Jovetic at somewhere in the region of £13.5million, but the Blues believe he is worth at least £19.8m.
Hernandez will almost certainly prove to be a more realistic target. He has plunged down the pecking order at Old Trafford over the last two seasons and goes into the 2014-15 campaign as fourth-choice.
England duo Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck, and Holland talisman Robin van Persie are all viewed as more reliable options and if Juve meet the Red Devils’ asking price he is likely to be on his way out of the club after four years in Manchester.