Reports: Juventus, Roma close to agreeing to €30 million deal for Daniele Rugani

With the addition of Matthijs de Ligt and, to a lesser extent, Merih Demiral, the potential for another season full of inconsistent playing time has become an official thing in the land of Daniele Rugani and his very outspoken agent. It was the same thing last summer, too, a time of the year where the Italian defender who has yet to live up to the lofty hype was continuously linked with a move to the Premier League with Chelsea.

This summer again saw Rugani get linked to a Premier League club in London, but nothing came of Arsenal’s interest. Instead, it looks like Rugani’s future could very well be with one of Juventus’ biggest rivals and a club they’ve done plenty of business with the last couple of years.

According to the Corriere dello Sport and Sportmediaset, Juventus and Roma are closing in on a deal for Rugani that is worth as much as €30 million. Rugani, who turned 25 years old just a couple of weeks ago, would initially join Roma on a loan deal worth €5 million, with the giallorossi with a fixed obligation to buy the Italian international defender next summer for another €25 million.

It is reported that Rugani, who signed a contract extension with Juventus through the 2023 season back in late March, is asking for an annual salary of €3 million net.

If there ever was a summer for Rugani to leave Juventus and try to get his career back on a track where he’s a consistent starter for the first time since playing for Maurizio Sarri at Empoli, this could very well be that summer. We could have said the same thing last summer when Chelsea’s willingness to pay upwards of €45 million or €50 million seemed rather legitimate.

But now that Rugani is clearly behind Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and de Ligt on the depth chart and Demiral has been one of the more impressive players this preseason, Rugani could very well see the writing on the wall. Same can be said for Juventus, with a willingness to sell Rugani while he still has some relatively good value on the transfer market.

Sure, €30 million isn’t really all that close to the €50-something million Chelsea might have paid for Rugani last summer, but it’s still a solid return for a player who has battled inconsistent playing time for the better part of his Juventus career, inconsistent performances and the unfortunate truth of never meeting expectations.

In closing, let’s go see what our Roma friends at Chiesa di Totti have to say about the Rugani rumors, shall we?

Now, make no mistake, this isn’t the same Rugani who left Empoli five years ago, the kid who had the world at his feet—Rugani has some serious flaws in need of addressing—but if they’re willing to invest €25 million in him, Roma clearly see Rugani as a gamble worth taking.

At 25-years-old, Daniele Rugani is just entering his prime athletic years, and at a cost of €3 million per season (if true), Roma better hope this change of scenery yields immediate results.

No matter how much Juventus’ moves this summer — or any summer, for that matter — confuse the living hell out of us, never forget that Roma are always gonna Roma.