The logical steps from what we had last heard about Juventus’ pursuit of talented Ascoli 19-year-old winger Riccardo Orsolini were pretty easy to figure. Juventus were close to getting a deal done, with the hope that something would be finalized over the upcoming weekend and then an official announcement would soon follow.
Based on what we know a day later, that seems like it’s right on track.
Thanks to an interview with Ascoli sporting director Cristiano Giaretta, Juventus’ deal for Orsolini has been confirmed, with the young Italian set to sign with the five-time defending Scudetto winners in relatively short order. As we pretty much expected to be part of the deal, Giaretta stated that Orsolini will stay with Ascoli for the rest of the 2016-17 season, as the youngster gets some valuable game time in Serie B while also helping his club avoid getting any lower than its current mid-table status at the midpoint of the campaign.
“An agreement has been reached with Juventus. We’ll have to bring the details up to date. We couldn’t say much, but there’s always been the desire to get it done. It’s not true that there’s been a giant offer from Napoli, and there are some details still to be defined. There’s a basic deal, then there are variables and talks related to various players. What’s certain is that Orsolini will remain until the end of the season.”
(Source: Football Italia)
While obviously not official, Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio published a report on Friday with what he believes are the financial details of said deal. It reads as follows:
Riccardo Orsolini to Juventus is almost a done deal, only awaiting the official completion of the transfer. The agreement that Juventus reached with Ascoli is for a base fee of €5.5m, which could reach €10m with bonuses tied to appearances with Juventus and the Italy national team.
Clearly, with the way some folks rate Orsolini even a €10 million price tag could end up being a pretty good price if he progresses into a regular contributor at Juventus. With his age, though, we don’t know when that will be. It could be a case where he, like Daniele Rugani, has a great first season in Serie A and then comes back right away. Or, like some of the other youngsters Juventus have bought during the Marotta-Paratici era, things take a little longer to finally click.
But, as we’ve said time and time again, the goal that Marotta and Paratici clearly have is to try and set up Juventus for the future while they put out an incredibly competitive product on the field in the present day. A lot of that has to do with getting some of the best young Italian players in both Serie A and Serie B — and Orsolini is definitely one of those players. That will be especially true if he keeps breaking the ankles of defenders like he’s Allen Iverson.