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When Juventus put through its first fullback swap deal of the summer involving Luca Pellgrini and Leonardo Spinazzola, there was always the possibility of the former immediately going out on loan. That’s not because Juventus didn’t rate, but more to get a player coming off a serious injury some much-needed playing time at a club he had just spent the second half of the 2018-19 season at.
That possibility is about to become a reality.
According to Goal Italia’s Romeo Agresti and Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, Juventus and Cagliari have indeed agreed to a season-long loan deal involving the 20-year-old Pellegrini. A medical exam is scheduled for Monday for Pellegrini, who played in 16 Serie A matches last season with Cagliari after Roma sent him on a post-injury loan deal.
#Juventus: Luca #Pellegrini to #Cagliari on-loan is a done deal ✅ @goal
— Romeo Agresti (@romeoagresti) August 11, 2019
There’s a familiarity for Pellegrini. There’s a familiarity with the medical staff. And it’s not the first time that a Juventus youngster has gone on loan to a club like Cagliari, which finished just above the relegation last season.
Obviously, this is a move to get Pellegrini regular playing time over the course of the 2019-20 season, something that is going to be virtually impossible in Turin with Alex Sandro full entrenched as the starter at left back. And while Pellegrini has much, much more youth on his side than Sandro does, getting him consistent minutes right now — especially coming off injury — is what he needs.
The question is, as we lined out in the post-match talking points following Saturday’s friendly loss to Atlético Madrid, what this will do with Juventus’ depth. Pellegrini was one of the few players who didn’t appear in the match, which was a pretty good sign that something transfer-related was up and soon to take place. Does this mean Mattia De Sciglio is Sandro’s backup? Will somebody else come on loan? If De Sciglio is on the left, does that mean Juan Cuadrado is a part-time fullback? Oh, so many questions.
But at least we know that Pellegrini will be getting minutes, so there’s that.