Juve still interested in Llorente

Juve chief executive Giuseppe Marotta was asked about the Athletic Bilbao striker in an interview with Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport, after comments from Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho recently that the 27-year-old, whose contract expires next northern summer, would be Turin-bound early in the new year.

Marotta said: "He (Mourinho) will have precise information, he is always well-informed ...

"Of course if (Llorente) remains on the market, he is a player of interest. And anyway, we'll look at the January transfer window independently of him: there may be several openings."

Marotta expressed regret that his club had been unable to sign Robin van Persie, with the Netherlands striker opting to join Manchester United after announcing he would not sign a new deal with Arsenal.

However, Marotta did not believe the deal could be justified financially and was pleased with Juve's work in the summer window.

"I have regrets about Van Persie, but it would have been a bad choice for a club like Juventus to pay almost 30 million euros ($36.8 million) for a player who was almost out of contract," he added.

"We were able to hit the priority target of strengthening the group and raising the level of quality with the acquisition of players from the correct profile: good, young and with a reasonable salary. I refer in particular to (Kwadwo) Asamoah, (Mauricio) Isla and (Sebastian) Giovinco."

Marotta admitted his club would also be "obliged to show an interest" if highly-rated Torino and Italy defender Angelo Ogbonna came on the market.