Valentine’s Day is celebrated on June 12th in Brazil. We don’t know if Cristiano Giuntoli knows about it, certainly Thiago Motta, Brazilian by birth but naturalized Italian, will know. Today, June 12, is T-Day, the day chosen by Juventus to formalize the marriage with its new coach. Who will say yes remotely thanks to new technologies, because after the digital signature on the contract there will be the long-awaited announcement: Motta, the rampant technician chosen by the Juventus director to build a new winning cycle, will be linked to the Lady until 2027 with a 3-year contract at around 3.5 million euros per year plus bonuses. The moment is important and even if the exchange of documents between Turin and Portugal all took place electronically, the director wanted to make his presence felt to the technician with a blitz of his own: flight to Lisbon and then towards Cascais, a jewel overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
Giuntoli loves the sea but he didn’t reach Thiago Motta just to enjoy the view. More than beaches, restaurants, fish and pasteis de nata, a local specialty with a creamy filling for which the dt has a weakness, the main dish was the market. Telephone contact between the two has been frequent and constant in recent times, but speaking in person is another thing and Cascais will be remembered as the first face-to-face summit. 30 kilometers from Lisbon, in an enchanting and exclusive place where Cristiano Ronaldo recently purchased a mega villa – and where Thiago’s family, his wife Angela and their three daughters live – the manager and coach have begun to put pen to paper the Juventus to come. The first gift could arrive in the next few hours, directly from England: all-out negotiations with Aston Villa to bring Douglas Luiz, the 26-year-old Brazilian central midfielder, to Turin.
Hit in the middle
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An operation on which Giuntoli has been working for more than two weeks now and which now seems close to white smoke. Decisive was the inclusion of a second counterpart in Weston McKennie, the first player Monchi, Aston Villa’s transfer man, had set his sights on. Samuel Iling was added, who like the Texan is out of contract in 2025. The club The Englishman aims to close with Douglas Luiz in exchange for the Juventus pair and with an economic compensation of around twenty million, but Juventus is pushing for a lower valuation of the Brazilian playmaker. An agreement also remains to be found for the hiring of Douglas Luiz: with Szczesny leaving (which guarantees a saving of 6.5 million net) Giuntoli could have more margin to satisfy the player, who would like to earn more than the current salary (3 .5 million). There is Motta’s approval on Douglas Luiz as well as on the renewal of Adrien Rabiot, from whom a response on the renewal proposal is expected shortly. In Thiago’s plans Douglas and Rabiot can play together in front of the defense, with Fagioli and Locatelli as first alternatives. If Rabiot were to say goodbye, the Bianconeri would have to sign another midfielder. But the moves in midfield don’t stop here: once the negotiations with Aston Villa are over, the attack on Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta) will be studied, fresh from forfeiting the European Championship, who remains a fixed obsession for Giuntoli and a priority for Motta , also reiterated in the last interview.
Revolving doors
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Thiago will also be satisfied for the goalkeeper: he wanted a young man who is skilled with his feet and here is Michele Di Gregorio, already armored (only the signature is missing) with the onerous loan formula (2 million) plus 18 in redemption. Wojciech Szczesny, destined for Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, will make room for him. Motta’s idea is to control the game from the defence: the coach is convinced that the Italian, thanks to training with his two trainers Yovo and Lozano, is already ready to be a starter for Juventus.
All about Greenwood
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For the other moves – central defender and wingers – the transfers will be decisive, unlocked with the official sale of Kaio Jorge to Cruzeiro for 7.2 million euros. While waiting for the Szczesny-Al Nassr deal to materialize, at Continassa they are waiting for the interest in Matias Soulé and Dean Huijsen to transform into concrete offers of 20-30 million: both youngsters are in the sights of Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund. And watch out for Federico Chiesa (expires 2025): if he doesn’t renew he will end up on the market. It is no coincidence that his agent Fali Ramadani is already moving. We will need wingers suitable to handle the double phase to move to 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. The winger at the top of Giuntoli and Thiago’s desires remains Mason Greenwood, reborn at Getafe but owned by Manchester United: the Englishman has already expressed his willingness to move to Turin, now we will have to work to find an agreement with the club, which asks for a lot (around 50 million). At the back, patience will be needed for Riccardo Calafiori, Motta’s protégé: if Bologna doesn’t lower the wall, the Bianconeri are thinking of another student of Thiago: Kwior (Arsenal), trained at Spezia. Going forward, trust in Vlahovic and Yildiz, who will be locked down after the European Championship. Today in Brazil we celebrate Valentine’s Day, Thiago will have more than one reason to toast in Cascais.
