OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Mattia Perin’s move to Benfica postponed due to medical issues

What looked like it would be a quick and swift move from Italy to Portugal for Mattia Perin has suddenly hit a major snag.

A medical snag, that is.

Problems with Perin’s medical exams on Thursday have resulted in Perin’s proposed transfer from Juventus to Benfica for a reported €15 million being postponed. According to a statement released on Benfica’s website, Perin’s recovery from injury has been discovered to be much longer than the Portuguese club expected them to be. Therefore, an agreement has been reached between the two clubs that Perin will stay in Turin and rehabilitate at J Medical for the next four months, with a move to Benfica likely to take place in December or January when the winter transfer window officially opens come the new year.

Let’s be clear here: Benfica has not called off the deal. Things are just in a long-term holding pattern as Perin aims to get 100 percent healthy.

The 26-year-old Perin arrived from Genoa last summer in a deal that cost Juventus €12 million, one that saw the Italian goalkeeper aiming for both regular playing time with the Italian champions as well as the chance to play in the Champions League. With Wojciech Szczesny quickly establishing himself as Juventus’ starter in goal, playing time became increasingly hard to come by for Perin, who appeared in just nine league games last season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in training.

This move to Benfica was supposed to be the chance that got Perin first time football once again after playing so few minutes in his lone season in Turin.

Instead, the move to Portugal will have to wait at least four months to happen.

This isn’t the first time Juventus and a Portuguese club have had this kind of arrangement where a player with a long-term injury recovers in Turin before going to their new club. Just last summer, Juve and Sporting agreed to the same kind of situation with midfielder Stefano Sturaro, who never actually played a game in Portugal and eventually moved to Genoa on loan (and then was bought outright for €16.5 million a couple of weeks later.)