Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Manchester United late in the summer transfer window left Juventus with a gaping void.
The Italian giants accepted that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner wanted to bring his time in Turin to an end after three full seasons with the club.
But it left the Old Lady with next to no time to find a replacement for the man who has scored more than 800 goals for club and country throughout his career.
Max Allegri’s side felt the brunt of losing Ronaldo and won just four of their opening 11 Serie A matches.
However, the Italian giants are currently in the midst of a 13-game unbeaten run in the Italian top-flight and have dragged themselves back into the title race.
Juventus may be in fourth place with 11 league games remaining, but they’re only seven points behind league leaders Napoli.
However, dutch international Matthijs de Ligt has admitted that Juventus struggled without 30-goal-as-season Ronaldo before Dusan Vlahovic’s arrival.
Speaking in the Sun, centre-back de Ligt said: “We took a hit because we lost 30 goals all of a sudden.
“We could not sign somebody like Dusan Vlahovic because there was not enough time.”
Ronaldo may have 15 goals to his name upon his return to the Reds, but Juventus were able to replace their former superstar in the January transfer window.
The Serbian international Vlahovic was in red hot form for former club Fiorentina when he was signed for a fee just over £60million.
The 22-year-old, who has taken the number seven shirt that Ronaldo left behind, has four goals from his first six games at Juventus, which included a goal inside a minute on his Champions League debut.
In the 2021/22 campaign, Vlahovic has a staggering 24 goals and five assists to his name from 30 games played.
Before signing for Juventus, Vlahovic would have likely been on United’s radar to be the long-term replacement for Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani.
But United will now have to look elsewhere.
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