There have been very few transfer-related stories since the summer window came to a close. That’s probably for the best considering how one of Juventus’ final deals never happened despite said player actually being in Turin and expecting something to go down.
Now, we have word of another Juventus deal that’s on the table. No, it’s not something that will see a player added to the roster in January or regarding a player who we thought might sign with the club who ended up staying put. Nope, this involves a deal that is likely to go down and potentially see said player arrive in Turin come 11 months from now.
An Italian destiny, with Juventus at the head of the line. Rodrigo Bentancur is of interest to the bianconeri, who have an option on the Boca Juniors midfielder (class of 97) thanks to the Carlos Tevez deal. It's not a secret that Juventus wants to enforce their potion on the player, but only beginning in the 2017/18 season. Today Daniel Angelici talked to ESPN about the Uruguayan starlet: "In Geneva, I met with the leaders of Juventus. We are in advanced negotiations for the sale of Bentancur." The meeting between Angelici and Marotta happened during the last meeting of the ECA, where Juventus reiterated their desire: there is mutual interest between the player and the club, but only from next year and onward.
(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)
Now, if you remember about 14 months ago when Juventus announced the Tévez deal and all of the elements that came along with it, Bentancur wasn’t the major part of the equation. At least not immediately, that is. He never technically arrived in Turin. That was another one of Boca’s talented youngsters, Guido Vadala — who is now on loan at Unión de Santa Fe in Argentina after returning to Boca — and not Bentancur.
But it wasn’t like Bentancur wasn’t a sought after player this summer. At one point, it looked as though all signs pointed toward Milan signing the young Uruguayan, with Juventus not looking to take advantage of said option to bring him to Turin instead. The deal with Milan never happened, and now it’s obviously clear that Juve are getting back in and trying to get Bentancur in their ranks.
Now we wait to see if the negotiations do conclude and Bentancur is a Juventus player. As we know from this summer and ones of the past, just because Juve are in advanced talks to sign a certain player, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a stone cold lock that he is considered a done deal.