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At the start of the day in Italy, it was being viewed as the decisive day for negotiations to bring Sassuolo strikers Domenico Berardi and Simone Zaza to Turin. I know that because it's what Twitter told me before I went to bed.
As the clock came close to striking midnight, news broke that gave us an indication of what might be taking place over the next couple of days. Or, at least, something we hope happens over the next couple of days.
According to reports out of Italy Tuesday night, Juventus have either bought Berardi and Zaza or are extremely close to doing so in the very near future. It makes you think that those meetings that the two sides conducted throughout the day went pretty well if you're a person who sees things through Juventus-colored glasses. Maybe they enjoyed a couple glasses of wine, too. Whatever works, right?
La serata ha portato consiglio anche su #Berardi: tutto della #Juve. Ora a Torino decideranno se tenerlo o cederlo in prestito. #GoalMercato
— Romeo Agresti (@romeoagresti) June 16, 2015
And here's an English version that also includes Mr. Zaza...
Juventus and Sassuolo continue their dinner meeting to decide Zaza and Berardi's futures. While the summit is still going on, the two clubs have agreed on one thing- the two strikers will be fully owned by Juventus. Berardi's immediate future still needs to be decided, Allegri will have final say based on the other moves Juventus does for the attack. The most likely scenario involves Berardi staying on loan for one more season at Sassuolo, but the final decision has yet to be made.
(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)
As we have come to know, Zaza and Berardi will (potentially) arrive in two different kinds of circumstances. Juventus had a first right of refusal/some sort of buyback clause when it came to Zaza, who was bought outright by Sassuolo last summer. Berardi has been co-owned by Juventus and Sassuolo the past two seasons. And with co-ownership in Italy coming to an end this summer, Berardi's contract situation would have had to been figured out regardless of his future with Juventus.
Earlier in the day, Di Marzio was reporting that the combined cost for Berardi and Zaza had gone up from €25 million to €27 million. Not a huge or drastic change, but a bump up in price because Sassuolo obviously know they have a pair of assets on their hands and want to get a good chunk of change for it.
The only part that irks me: "The most likely scenario involves Berardi staying on loan for one more season at Sassuolo, but the final decision has yet to be made." If Beppe Marotta/Fabio Paratici/whomever is about to shell out a lot of money for both Berardi and Zaza, they better be wearing Juventus' new adidas jersey next season. That's all I'm saying about that right now.