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Turns out when Genoa President Enrico Preziosi said over the weekend that Alessandro Matri was going to sign with Juventus, he wasn't messing around.
Eighteen months after Matri was sold to Milan for a nice €11 million chunk of change, the 30-year-old striker is back in a Juventus jersey. After 48 hours full of rumors, Matri has officially re-joined the three-time defending Serie A champions on a loan deal for the rest of the season, Juventus announced on Monday afternoon.
.@Ale_Matri returns to Juventus on loan until the end of the season: http://t.co/8fdgxqG07w #BentornatoMatri pic.twitter.com/ChMoKPGQdL
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 2, 2015
The official announcement, courtesy of juventus.com:
Alessandro Matri has today returned to Juventus after agreeing terms on a loan switch from Genoa until 30 June 2015.
The striker, 30, represented the club between January 2011 and August 2013, winning back-to-back Scudetto and Super Coppa titles during a successful period in Turin.
After struggling with both Milan and Fiorentina a year ago, Matri has regained his form with Genoa in the first half of the 2014-15 season. At the time of his departure, he led Genoa in goals with seven and was tied with Andrea Bertolacci in assists with five. This comes a season after Matri scored a grand total of six goals in 40 combined games in all competitions with Milan and then at a loan with Fiorentina.
Matri will be reunited with Max Allegri, his manager at both Cagliari and Milan. Obviously their first tour of duty together was better than the second, with Matri's run of form with the Sardinian side making way for Juventus to snap up the striker on an initial loan deal with an option to buy during the winter transfer window back in 2011. Matri went on to score nine goals in his first half-season in Turin, and then another 10 goals — many of which were decisive — in the first of three Scudetto-winning season under Antonio Conte.
Now, after 18 months, Matri is back. And so is the duck duck quack goal celebration. Oh happy day.
