Cristiano Giuntoli’s summer is a whirlwind of appointments and destinations, looking for players to sell and also to buy. Thiago Motta has been made official, now the goal is to give him at least a skeleton of the new Lady for the start of the new season (around July 10th). On the midfield front, work continues with Aston Villa to bring Douglas Luiz to Turin in exchange for Weston McKennie and Samuel Iling (more compensation to be defined, around 18-20 million), but it is not the only department to be sorted out. Maximum attention also on the wingers, in order to be able to move from Allegri’s 3-5-2 to the 4-2-3-1 which the new Italian-Brazilian coach seems intent on aiming for. While waiting to define the future of Federico Chiesa (contract expiring in 2025), we look to the Premier League, where a name has cropped up in talks with Mancheser United for Manson Greenwood, the 22-year-old Englishman who was on loan at Getafe last season already known, that of Sancho, who the director had already tried to bring to Turin in January.
The backstory
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In reality the deal was practically done with the loan formula and with wages largely paid by United. Jadon Sancho had said yes to the temporary transfer to Juventus, the club ditto, but everything came to a halt at the last corner due to the lack of approval from Massimiliano Allegri, who had no intention of changing formation mid-season. At that moment his Juventus were doing well, even holding their own against Inter in the Scudetto key, and the coach didn’t want to sign a player who could have upset the balance, forcing him to switch to the trident. So nothing happened: Giuntoli let go and Sancho, a 24-year-old English runner-up of Europe in 2021 now out of United’s project, eventually moved to Borussia Dortmund with a third of the salary paid by the English.
Loan deal
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Borussia who purchased him in 2017 for 8 million from City and, after 4 years in Germany, sold him to his cousins at Manchester United for 80 million. Now the yellow and blacks would be happy to take him back permanently, but not on United’s financial terms. In fact, the English value him at 50 million euros, more or less the same amount as Greenwood, a winger who doesn’t displease Thiago and to whom Juventus has already obtained an initial yes. The problem is the cost in addition to the stop period linked to personal events. For this reason, 360-degree evaluations are being carried out at Juventus and in the meantime other avenues are also being explored. Sancho is considered one of the greatest phenomena of his generation, he knows how to dribble, assist and score and can play on both the right and left. In terms of reliability there are no doubts, which is why Giuntoli has returned to office by requesting him on loan. Bringing him to Continassa on a temporary basis and with the salary paid by United, even if only in part (the 8.5 million net that he currently earns is too much) would be a great coup, but it is not a simple operation. In the meantime, the director has put himself on the list, in the hope that no teams intend to buy him outright arrive. Sancho in Germany returned to those levels of excellence that he was never able to reach in England: never in double figures in terms of goals scored in 2 and a half seasons in the Premier League, while in his first experience in the Bundesliga he had exceeded 10 goals for 3 times in a row.
Rabiot, transfers and Koop
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In the meantime, the Juventus management is waiting for a response from Adrien Rabiot (proposed a three-year renewal at 7.5 million euros net per season, the same amount he currently earns: the club remains moderately optimistic but there is always the risk that some wealthy club of the Premier League enters with a more attractive offer) and is looking for buyers for Dean Huijsen and Matias Soulé, the two gems who grew up in the Under 23s and have returned from their respective loan spells at Roma and Frosinone. On the Argentine playmaker (who Thiago Motta wouldn’t mind, but Giuntoli is forced to sacrifice to finance the signing campaign), there is Bayer Leverkusen as well as some Englishmen, Borussia Dortmund has already moved for the Spanish Under 21 defender . The Bianconeri’s goal is to collect around sixty million from the departure of both. Immediately afterwards, the attack on Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta), another Juventus player, can begin.
