Blackburn Rovers

Former Blackburn Rovers midfielder could sign for Juventus for £35m

Former Blackburn Rovers midfielder Steven N’Zonzi is set to sign for Italian side Juventus for a fee of £35 million, according to The Sun.

N’Zonzi, 28, currently plays for Spanish side Sevilla but looks set to make a big move to Italy this summer.  The midfielder spent six years in England, with Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City.

After beginning his senior career with Amiens in Ligue 2, Sam Allardyce brought N’Zonzi to England for £500,000 with Blackburn Rovers in June 2009.  The Frenchman made 33 Premier League appearances in his debut season, scoring two goals.  He went on to become a key player for Blackburn and made a total of 96 appearances in three seasons at the club, scoring five goals.

Following Blackburn’s relegation to the Championship, N’Zonzi signed for Stoke City for £3 million.  He hardly missed a game in his three seasons at the club, making 120 appearances and scoring seven goals.  Stoke reluctantly accepted a £7 million offer from Sevilla and the midfielder signed for the Spanish club in July 2015.

N’Zonzi has since made 92 appearances in two seasons at Sevilla after quickly establishing himself as a key member of their first-team.  After winning the Europa League in his first season with the club, his good form this season has attracted the interest of Italian Champions Juventus.

N’Zonzi has come a long way since his time at Blackburn Rovers, but he could have linked up with former manager Sam Allardyce once again.  When Allardyce was appointed as England manager, he looked into the possibility of calling up N’Zonzi.

Allardyce said: It would have been of interest for me and we did explore it. We did have a call but it was impossible.

“This lad won player of the year at Blackburn in his first year having come from the French Second Division. I’m not surprised he’s got to Sevilla, that’s not being disrespectful to Blackburn or Stoke.”

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