Juventus are set to bring forward plans to sign Espanyol fullback Pablo Zabaleta.

Having indicated to Zabaleta's minders that they wouldn't be moving for the Argentine for another 12 months, Marca says Juve are now accelerating their plans after losing Giorgio Chiellini to a knee injury.

The stumbling block for Juve is Zabaleta remains in Beijing with Argentina's Olympics squad, which will complicate negotiations.