SoccerNews.com

Juventus boss Claudio Ranieri admitted on Tuesday that he is hoping to sign Real Madrid centre-back Fabio Cannavaro for next season.

Cannavaro has made it clear he wishes to leave Real at the end of the season and previously stated he wanted to return to Napoli, his first club.

But with Napoli ruling themselves out of the bidding, Juve have become frontrunners for the 36-year-old’s signature with Cannavaro’s agent admitting on Monday that talks had begun.

And despite his age, Ranieri is keen for Cannavaro to link up alongside Italian international team-mate Giorgio Chiellini in the centre of the Juve defence.

“We also asked questions about his age but we couldn’t afford to miss out on the possibility of signing an international player who could reform the Italy partnership with Chiellini,” said Ranieri.

“For that reason I gave it (the transfer) the ok.”

No deal has been agreed yet but Juve president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli confirmed negotiations are taking place.

“It will possibly happen but we still have to see about some details,” he said. “I’m happy to see that even Ranieri has expressed himself positively about Cannavaro.”

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