Reports: Juventus, Southampton agree to €18 million deal for Mario Lemina

It’s funny, really. I was sitting around my apartment on Thursday night thinking about writing a column entitled something along the lines of “What should Juventus do with Mario Lemina?” It involved pretty much you would think it would — pondering whether or not Lemina actually does fit into Juve’s plans going forward this season and the next few campaigns after that.

Well, I think we’ve found out what Juventus are going to do with Lemina.

According to reports on Saturday by ESPN FC and Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, Juventus has agreed to a deal to send the 23-year-old Lemina to English Premier League side Southampton. The report from Di Marzio states that Juventus and Southampton agreed to a deal that would see Lemina head to St. Mary’s Stadium while a transfer fee of €18 million plus bonuses going the other way to Turin.

More reading, courtesy of Di Marzio:

Mario Lemina's future is all English. ESPN is reporting that negotiations are completed. In addition, there is confirmation of the details of the deal: 18 million euros plus 2 million euros tied to appearances. This is how Southampton beat Stoke City to the final sprint. The medical visits are expected on Monday. It was the player's choice because he was strongly wanted by Pellegrino.

Transfer rumors have long been associated with Lemina, who arrived on loan from Marseille two summers ago. It seems like it was a situation close to that of Simone Zaza where rumors about Lemina leaving started virtually weeks after his signing on the dotted line back in 2015.

Lemina has always shown flashes of the potential he has. And that’s surely a big reason why Southampton are going to end up possibly paying €20 million for him. They’re betting on a 23-year-old living up to the potential that he has. Maybe he will find more playing time in England. But with three — and maybe more — central midfielders ahead of him in the Juventus pecking order, that chance probably wasn’t going to happen in Turin.

What should Juventus do with Mario Lemina? It looks like we now know.