Dejan Kulusevski

(Juventus)

After failing to go beyond the last eight of the Champions League in each of the past three seasons, the Old Lady plainly need a reboot and will be banking on the recently-recruited young Sweden winger to play a full part in that repair and resuscitate process.

The word in Italy is that Kulusevski was very close to choosing Internazionale, but Juventus dug deep to get their man. If all the add-on clauses are fulfilled, his former club Atalanta will be €44m richer. Juve, though, will see the hefty fee as the soundest of investments.

Exhibit A: the 20-year-old’s scintillating form on loan at Parma last season - scoring ten league goals and assisting eight - which earned him the Serie A Young Player of the Year award.

Exhibit B: his vast untapped potential, nurtured in the Atalanta academy and allowed to flourish on loan at Parma.

Exhibit C: his tremendous versatility, with excellence as a right-winger, number ten or second striker.

The early signs are that his new manager, Andrea Pirlo, will utilise Kulusevski on the right side of an attacking trident, either in a 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 formation, cutting inside onto his favoured left foot.

Born in Stockholm to Macedonian parents, he looks to be made of the right mental stuff, too. In his first interview as a Juventus player, he refused to say whether he preferred goals or assists. “Only victories count. I only play to win.”

That sort of single-minded clarity goes down very well at Juventus.

Tremendous versatility, with excellence as a right-winger, number ten or second striker