As every football fan was naturally expecting, the summer transfer rumour mill has gone into overdrive in the last few weeks and the speculation will only intensify as the distraction of the 2024 European Championship tournament comes to a close.
It seems a new trend for Italian Serie A sides this summer is to be actively, and maybe purposely, targeting top quality English Premier League talent, who both have age on their side and a number of great years left in their tanks, as well as significant transfer fee sell on potential.
It was only the other day that Lazio were being heavily linked with Manchester United attacker Mason Greenwood, and now Juventus have rather surprisingly confirmed that they have reached an agreement with Aston Villa for their 26 year old Brazilian midfielder, Douglas Luiz.
It is a bit of a complicated deal really, it is suggested that the Old Lady will pay around the £42.3 million mark for the 15 capped international, but the deal will also see manager Unai Emery’s team pay a combined £18.5 million for versatile 20 year old right sider Samuel Iling-Junior, and 23 year old defensive midfielder Enzo Barrenechea.
Douglas Luiz is set to undergo a medical next week whilst he is on a training camp with his country, and Iling-Junior and Barrenechea’s medical’s will probably take place slightly sooner.
The former Manchester City midfielder joined the Midlands’ club back in 2019 and in the years since he has made over 150 starting appearances for them across all competitions, scoring 22 goals. He has also displayed a small habit of scoring a few of his goals direct from the corner flag.
Argentine Barrenechea spent the 2023/24 campaign out on loan with Frosinone where they ultimately suffered relegation from the Italian top flight, whereas former Chelsea Academy graduate Iling-Junior remained with us, featuring 27 times last year to take his own appearance total over the years to 45 (albeit mainly as a substitute as he continued his development).
It is quite the pivot from the Villans as originally they were claimed to be interested in United States international Winston McKennie, but at the beginning of the week apparently his wage demands became too excessive for them and they walked away from that deal, in the search for a proper one.
It is not the only deal that Juventus and Aston Villa are set to conclude in the coming week, as they have also confirmed that Switzerland international striker, Alisha Lehmann, will also make the switch in the respective women’s teams.