OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Riccardo Orsolini joins Atalanta on two-year loan deal

When Juventus signed Riccardo Orsolini in January, he easily became one of the brightest prospects that the club owns the contract of. We knew he was performing quite well with Ascoli in Serie B, and a move up to Italy’s first division, no matter who it was going to be with, seemed like a mere formality.

As the clock just ticked up to noon in Italy on Friday morning, we got our answer.

After some thought Orsolini could stick with Juventus through its preseason training camp and then head out on loan, the young winger has found his home for the upcoming season ... and likely the one after that. Both Juventus and Atalanta have announced that Orsolini has joined the upstart Bergamo-based club on a two-year loan deal with an option to buy and then a counter-option to buy that would see him return to Turin.

Here is the official wording, courtesy of Juventus’ website:

Juventus Football Club have reached an agreement with Atalanta Bergamasco Calcio for the loan of Riccardo Orsolini, the young winger joining the Bergamo-based outfit on a two-year deal. The transfer includes an option to buy with a counter-option.

The 20-year old will look to build on a breakthrough U20 World Cup campaign in South Korea this summer in which he scored five times in seven matches to win the competition’s Golden Boot.

After catching the eye with Ascoli in Serie B last term, Orsolini can now look forward to testing himself in both Serie A and the Europa League this season.

Good luck, Riccardo!

Orsolini, one of the best players at the Under-20 World Cup last month, joined Juventus on one of the final days of the January transfer window earlier this year. He burst onto the scene in Serie B during the 2016-17 campaign, with Juventus snapping him up for €6 million.

Now, he is heading to a club in Atalanta that has seen young players that are in their early-20s absolutely thrive in recent seasons. Juventus owns one of those players, center back Mattia Caldara, who will now see Orsolini join Atalanta on a similar two-year loan deal that the 23-year-old defender is current in the middle of since he signed with Juve during the same January transfer window.

Seeing two potential key pieces to Juventus’ future play on the same team will make Atalanta quite mandatory viewing next season. And maybe the season after that, too. Or maybe Orsolini absolutely impresses over the next nine or 10 months and Juventus bring him back with a year left on the loan deal. Wingers do seem to be a priority right now, after all...