ROME (AP) — Juventus would sell Dusan Vlahovic to any buyer with enough cash for the highly paid center forward.
Yet the Bianconeri can hardly get by without him.
Having turned down transfer offer after transfer offer, Vlahovic came off the bench and scored for the second consecutive match in Juventus’ 1-0 win at Genoa in Serie A on Sunday.
In the 73rd minute, Vlahovic rose far above his marker to redirect a corner from Serbia teammate Filip Kostic — another player who has surprisingly remained in Turin.
Juventus has been trying to offload Vlahovic and his 12 million euros ($14 million) salary — the highest in the league — before his contract expires after this season. Without much success, though, since Vlahovic has so far seemed determined to stay ahead of Monday’s market closure.
Juventus joined defending champion Napoli, promoted Cremonese and Roma with a perfect six points from the opening two rounds.
Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio preserved the victory with two saves in stoppage time, first pushing away a strike from Caleb Ekuban around the post and then punching away a header from Patrizio Masini that had hit the crossbar.
Inconsistent Inter
Inter Milan was the most impressive side during Serie A’s opening round, routing Torino 5-0. In the second round, the Nerazzurri were a big disappointment, getting beat 2-1 by Udinese on Sunday in their home opener.
Inter went ahead early on with a goal from Denzel Dumfries. But a foul by Dumfries resulted in a penalty that Keinan Davis converted for Udinese to equalize and then Arthur Atta also scored before the break after Inter lost possession at mid-field.
Inter, which is still clearly a work in progress under new coach Cristian Chivu, had a potential equalizer from Federico Dimarco annulled for offside.
Francesco Pio Esposito, a highly touted 20-year-old striker, came on in the second half to make his Serie A debut for Inter but didn't make much of an impact.
Also, Lazio beat Hellas Verona 4-0 with goals from Matteo Guendouzi, Mattia Zaccagni, Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia.
Torino and Fiorentina drew 0-0.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
