Dusan Vlahovic's Contract Standstill: Juventus vs Bayern and Barça

Dusan Vlahovic is standing still while the clubs around him start to move.

Juventus have been in talks for weeks, but the line hasn’t shifted: the Serbian wants to keep his current €12m net salary, the club are offering roughly half. For a 26-year-old who just came off the bench to score the winner in a 1-0 league victory, that gap is not just financial. It’s symbolic. It’s about where he sees himself in the European hierarchy — and who is willing to pay him like a leading man.

A star in limbo

Vlahovic’s situation is laced with contradiction. On the pitch, he remains decisive. Returning from a lengthy lay-off with a stubborn adductor problem, he came on as a substitute and found the net in a 1-1 draw with Hellas Verona. At the weekend, he did it again: off the bench, decisive goal, three points.

In the stands, his name still rolls down from the curva. The Juve faithful have picked their side. They want him. He is said to feel settled in Piedmont, comfortable in the city, embedded in the dressing room.

Yet when the microphones appeared after that latest match-winning cameo, he dropped a line that cut straight through the warm applause. “My last two games for Juve? We’ll see…” No reassurance. No long-term pledge. Just uncertainty.

Bayern and Barça circle

Uncertainty is exactly what Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona are banking on.

Both giants are tracking Vlahovic as they plan for life beyond Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker’s shadow still looms large over their forward lines, and both clubs are searching for a long-term successor who can carry that burden of goals and expectation.

Reports in Italy suggest Vlahovic is leaning towards Bavaria. La Gazzetta dello Sport recently described Bayern as his preferred destination, a link that first surfaced in early 2022 when he left Fiorentina for Juventus. The interest never really vanished; it simply went quiet while he battled injuries and tried to impose himself in Turin.

At Bayern, the picture is complex. The club need another striker, but the role is not yet clear. He would likely operate as a backup option, with the current centre-forward situation in flux. Nicolas Jackson, on loan from Chelsea, is on his way out. Sporting director Max Eberl has already confirmed the club will not trigger the buy-out clause. A vacancy is opening, but it is not yet a guaranteed starring role.

Barcelona, too, are watching closely, scanning the market as they look for a future No. 9 who can eventually take the baton from Lewandowski. For a club operating under strict financial controls, though, a €12m net salary is not a detail. It is a major decision.

The money question

This is where the story tightens. Juventus are holding their line. They want to keep Vlahovic, but not at his current wage level. From their side, a renewal only makes sense at a significantly reduced salary.

Bayern’s position is less clear. Eberl is under pressure to trim the wage bill, not inflate it, and there is no guarantee the German champions will step in with the kind of contract Vlahovic expects. The interest is real; the numbers are another matter.

While the Serbian waits, Bayern continue to scan other parts of the market. Antony Gordon of Newcastle United has emerged as a serious option, a more versatile forward who can operate across the front line. According to The Athletic, Gordon is viewed as an alternative to RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande, with both players likely to command substantial transfer fees.

The shortlist does not end there. Recent reports mention Gordon’s teammate William Osula and Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere. Kicker describes the Belgian as the first alternative to Gordon, another sign that Bayern are keeping several doors open rather than charging headlong down the Vlahovic path.

Fitness doubts, mixed signals

The Corriere dello Sport line on Bayern’s approach to Vlahovic is telling: there is still no clarity on what, if anything, the German club have actually put on the table. Interest is one thing; a concrete offer that satisfies his salary demands is another.

His fitness record complicates the picture. That adductor injury kept him out for a long stretch, and while he has scored twice off the bench since returning to the squad, no club at this level ignores medical risk when committing to a major wage package.

So he waits. Juventus wait. Bayern and Barcelona watch, weighing up risk against reward, wages against goals.

For now, Vlahovic stands in the middle of it all — adored in Turin, unconvinced by the numbers on the contract, and coveted by clubs who have yet to show how far they are really willing to go. The next signature he puts on paper will say a lot about where he believes his prime years truly belong.