Reports: Juventus to sign Sassuolo defender Merih Demiral

There was a point a few summers ago where it seemed like half of Juventus’ transfer dealings involved, in one way or another, Sassuolo getting involved in the proceedings. Of course, those were during the days of co-ownership where we were fawning over the potential of a 20-year-old Domenico Berardi getting better and better before joining Juventus.

Since then, we’ve seen some young players go on loan to the Mapei Stadium, but nothing like it was during the days of Berardi and Simone Zaza leading Sassuolo’s rise to Serie A.

According to reports Thursday, Juve’s business with Sassuolo is about to be brought back from its slumber. Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio says that Juventus has essentially agreed to sign Turkish center back Merih Demiral, with whom they had a synergy agreement with Sassuolo when the 20-year-old was first signed back during the January transfer rumor. On top of that, La Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that Juventus and Demiral have agreed to a five-year contract.

How did this deal come about? Let Di Marzio tell you:

His play explained the 7 million euro investment that the neroverde made in him in synergy with Juventus who, at the time, reserved the option to acquire the player in June for roughly 15 million euros, doubling his value.

The bianconeri have decided to complete the final step and acquire the player. There are a few details to finalize, but things are headed toward Demiral joining the scudetto winners. This also explains the meetings from a few days ago between Paratici and the agent Franck Trimboli of Base Soccer in Palazza Parigi.

What’s interesting in all of this, despite the fact that Juve’s being linked with a move for another young defender outside of the usual names (Cristian Romero, Matthijs de Ligt, etc.), is that Sassuolo CEO Giovanni Carnevali was adamant that their move for Demiral was NOT done in synergy with Juventus, instead calling the Turkish defender’s arrival as “a loan with a €7m option to buy.”

So, whatever it is, the €7 million part is right. Just how Juventus plays into is what we’re wondering.

A natural central defender, Demiral appeared in 13 games for Sassuolo after signing from Sporting CP six months ago. In those 13 appearances (all starts), for whatever the hell it is worth, Demiral was Sassuolo’s highest-rated player, according to WhoScored. Demiral’s stats improved across the board after he moved to Serie A, including his pass success rate going from 77.3 percent with Sporting to 87.5 percent with Sassuolo.