Conte: Osvaldo accepted pay-cut to join Juventus

Antonio Conte has revealed that Pablo Osvaldo accepted a significant pay-cut to secure his move from Southampton to Juventus.

The Italy international joined Juve on loan until the end of the season on deadline day of the transfer window, after a training ground bust-up with Jose Fonte saw the club suspend him for two weeks.

And Conte has now revealed the full extent of Osvaldo's desire to move to Turin and is hoping the Italy international will bring variety to his attacking options.

"We grabbed an opportunity to sign him," Conte told Sky Sport Italia.

"The player really wanted to come to Juventus and actually significantly reduced his demands to secure the move.

"He’ll improve the quality of our attack and offer important competition to those already here."

The 28-year-old had only joined Southampton from Roma at the start of the 2013-14 campaign, but scored just three times in 13 league appearances.

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Juventus consider Osvaldo swoop

Juventus are considering a January swoop for Southampton striker Dani Osvaldo.

The former Roma star is looking likely to leave St Mary's before the winter window shuts in just over three days' time after he was involved in a training ground incident that reportedly involved him attacking team-mate Jose Fonte.

Osvaldo was subsequently suspended by the Premier League club for two weeks with manager Mauricio Pochettino conceding that he "doesn't know" if the 28-year-old will still be part of his squad at the start of February.

Serie A leaders Juve are interested in taking the controversial forward back to Italy, initially on loan with a view to a permanent deal in the summer.

Any potential move for Osvaldo is likely to hinge on the immediate future of Mirko Vucinic, however, with the Montenegro international keen to leave Turin having struggled for regular playing time under Antonio Conte.

Juve are keen to resurrect the mooted swap deal for Inter midfielder Fredy Guarin after talks had broken down following a backlash from furious Nerazzurri fans who do not want to see one of the club's prized assets depart.

Goal understands a meeting has been scheduled to renegotiate the deal, with a potential Vucinic exit clearing the path for Osvaldo to make the move to the Turin giants.

Conte's Juve currently sit at the top of the Serie A table and have been drawn against Trabzonspor in the last 32 of the Europa League, a competition Osvaldo would be eligible to feature in.

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