OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Stefano Sturaro joins Sporting Lisbon on loan

Stefano Sturaro saw one loan deal abroad fall apart this week. A second, despite reports that it could be disappearing up in smoke, has a much different kind of result.

Sporting Lisbon announced late Saturday that Sturaro, Juventus’ 25-year-old barely-used midfielder, has agreed to move to the Portuguese side on loan for the upcoming season. However, there is a catch — and it’s a good indicator as to why Sturaro missed Juventus’ recently-competed tour of the United States.

Sturaro will remain in Turin for the next two months or so as he rehabs from an injury and then head to Portugal to begin his loan spell. During that time, Juventus will pay his salary, with Sporting only responsible for paying him when Sturaro is physically in Lisbon.

There were reports coming out of Portugal earlier in the day on Saturday that issues with Sturaro’s medical would put the loan move in jeopardy. It would have been the second time in less than a week that a Sturaro-centric loan deal had fallen through after Juventus and Watford couldn’t agree to terms a few days earlier.

However, the medical concerns were squashed, with Juventus’ willingness to let Sturaro recuperate and rehab at J Medical likely playing a big part in the deal getting done.

We don’t know when Sturaro’s Sporting debut will be. But we do know that Sturaro is now a Sporting player. Well, I guess in the technical sense now even though he’s still going to be in Turin while he’s trying to get 100 percent healthy. Only then will he be an actual Sporting player and available to play in games for a Sporting side that finished third in league last season.