© EuroFootball.com
The content team continues the pursuit of a high-caliber striker.
The latest target of Italian champions has become Bilbao's attacking leader Fernando Llorente, writes the sports newspaper AS.
Today, the main Basque regional television ETB unexpectedly announced that the Spanish national team player has requested the club to sell him.
It is no secret that negotiations for a new contract between Llorente and Athletic are stalled, as the old one expires in the summer of 2013.
The 27-year-old footballer justifies his desire to leave the Basque team by wanting to play in the strongest European club football tournament - the UEFA Champions League.
Recently, the press was buzzing with reports that the Spaniard got into a conflict with Athletic's head coach Marcelo Bielsa.
The fiery coach in the Europa League qualifying match against Croatia's Belupo benched one of his team's stars just at the beginning of the second half.
The Spanish newspaper AS reports that Juventus executives, closely monitoring Llorente's situation, decided to take decisive action and made an offer worth 20 million euros.
Llorente is a product of the Athletic youth academy. He started his career in the main team in 2004 and since then has played 239 matches and scored 79 goals.
Last season, the striker wore his club's jersey in 53 official matches and scored 30 times.
