Report: Juventus, Manchester United agree to Matteo Darmian loan deal

Even before Matteo Darmian made his way to England, Juventus had an interest in signing the former Torino fullback. So much so that some guy on this website advocated that Juve go out and bring Darmian from the Torino side of town to the black and white one.

Three-and-a-half years later, that Darmian signing may be happening.

Under much different pretenses, of course.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus are set to finalize a loan deal for Darmian, who has spent the last three-plus seasons at Manchester United with sporadic form and playing time as a result. Darmian, now 29 years old, will sign on an initial six-month loan deal for a fee of around €3 million with there being an €8 million option to buy also there for the taking if Juve see fit come the summertime.

As a result of Darmian’s reported arrival back in Turin, it will free current Juventus fullback Leonardo Spinazzola to head out on a loan spell of his own to Bologna, a destination that has been a rumored landing spot for the former Juve youth product.

Darmian, who cost £12.7 million, has failed to keep a full-time starting job under the three United managers who have come through Old Trafford since he signed with the club in 2015. He has appeared in only five league games (four starts) this season — which pretty much speaks to just how far he’s fallen down the pecking order at United no matter who the manager actually is.

Even though Darmian can play on either side of the defense, this probably will be a like-for-like swap with Spinazzola in terms of expected playing time. And, in theory, Spinazzola — who’s now been training for a couple of months from knee surgery — will get the playing time he needs after not appearing in a game for around 10 months.