For a few days there were fewer certainties on the Felipe Anderson front. The pressure on the part of the player’s entourage had increased disproportionately, evidently due to the rush to define the immediate future. Juve has always remained consistent with his approach: they had shown interest in him already in January, when it seemed clear that the Brazilian would not remain at Lazio, but he had no intention of closing before the end of the season. Giuntoli would also have reached a general agreement verbally, also because – by exploiting the benefits of the growth decree that the player would have brought with him – on an economic level he could have closed a good deal, but the final agreement still had to be refined in detail and would a few more meetings came in handy. In short, Juve was in pole position and thought for a while that they had the player in their hands, but they had no intention of going after raises.
JUVE STRATEGY
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At the end of last week something changed because, in addition to the proposal to renew Lazio for 5 years (declined by the player), the Palmeiras hypothesis made its way, until now kept on standby and never perceived among the priorities of interest of the directly interested. Juve played a waiting game, unable and unwilling to participate in an auction that would not have seen them as favourites: Giuntoli anticipated Djalò in January, with an outlay of 3.5 million plus the same amount in bonuses, precisely so as not to be behind to the competition that would be unleashed next summer, and thus he reasoned about the other negotiations initiated. At Continassa they know they have to do a lot in the summer transfer market, also because the squad needs to be improved in quality and also increased: Felipe Anderson would have brought a lot of experience in Italian football and at European level, but given his age it was not possible to go too far on the salary, also by virtue of the cost reduction plan that the club has been imposing on sports management for some time.
