Report: Juventus goalkeeper Nicola Leali set to join Olympiacos on loan

Not even two weeks ago, we heard of a quartet of teams that had reported interest in Juventus goalkeeper Nicola Leali. Some were close to Turin and would allow us to watch Leali play whenever we so please, while others would be a new kind of excursion for the 23-year-old keeper who arrived at Juve with a lot of hype tacked onto his young shoulders.

Apparently there was a fifth team.

And that is in Greece, not England, Spain or Italy.

Here's more on the matter, courtesy of Sky Sport Italia's Gianluca Di Marzio:

A new adventure on the horizon for Nicola Leali. The keeper is about to depart towards Greece, where tomorrow he will have his medical with Olympiacos. A deal has been struck between the Greeks and Juventus over the loan with option to buy for the player (Juventus has a counter option to buy clause). After ending his experience with Frosinone, Leali is now ready to begin with his new club in Greece.

A counter-option to the initial option to buy. This is like the Álvaro Morata deal with another step or two added to it. (But, surely, this thing won't be netting Juventus anything close to €30 million if the option to buy is picked up. Minor details.)

But the loan with option to buy portion of the equation — at least the one that is on the end of Olympiacos — is an interesting one. It's either showing that, for one, Juve want to have the option to buy stipulation so that Olympiacos has a reason and motivation to play him. Or, secondly, that if Olympiacos wants to take up the option to buy, it may be a sign that Juve wouldn't necessarily be troubled by it.

Either way, for a fifth consecutive season, it looks as though Leali's team will be somebody other than Juventus even though Juventus is the club that still owns his contract. Funny how that works sometimes.