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The continued vision of Beppe Marotta and Fabio Paratici has been to not only build Juventus into a strong team for the present time, but also one that can continue to grow and be sustainable going into the future. That means having a strong backbone, one that will include young players full of potential growing up as players alongside one another as they approach the prime of their careers.
It's time to officially include Marko Pjaca in that group.
At last, at last, the Pjaca-to-Juventus deal is signed, sealed and delivered. Pjaca, one of the bright young 20-somethings in Europe, has taken his medical exams and finalized his €23 million move to Juventus from Dinamo Zagreb, it was announced on Thursday. Pjaca, now a teammate with Mario Mandzukic for both club and country, has put pen to paper on a five-year contract that will keep him in Turin through the 2020-21 season.
Here is the official press release, courtesy of the good folks at juventus.com:
Turin, 21 July 2016 - Juventus Football Club S.p.A. announces that the agreement with GNK Dinamo Zagreb for the definitive acquisition of the registration rights of the player Marko Pjaca has been finalized. The consideration for the acquisition is € 23 million payable in two financial years.
Juventus and the player have signed a 5-year contract of employment.
UFFICIALE: Marko Pjaca è bianconero! https://t.co/h2Vgf0GjMm pic.twitter.com/TMtQuxpdKr
— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) July 21, 2016
Just 21 years old, Pjaca has emerged as one of the most promising wide attackers in Europe, especially coming off an excellent stint at Euro 2016 with Croatia. He was much sought-after, with AC Milan and Napoli chasing him, as well as a handful of other teams around Europe all trying to get him.
He brings pace, skill, and drive to a Juventus attack that could always use more of all three. He's versatile enough to play on either wing, and skilled enough to play a variety of roles out wide. That's a valuable thing for Juventus to have, and he's going to be a welcome addition to the club because of it.
Welcome to Juventus, Marko. Feel free to continue to do good things. Hopefully those result in continued good things for the new team that you will be playing for next season.