OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Marko Pjaca joins Genoa on loan

Marko Pjaca is set for yet another loan stint that has hopes of restarting what was once a bright and rising career attached to it.

Juventus announced Saturday morning that Pjaca, who is still all of 25 years old, will be spending the 2020-21 season on loan at the Marassi with Genoa. It comes after Pjaca spent the second half of the 2019-20 season, one that was obviously extended much longer than anybody thought it might be because of the COVID-19 pandemic, on loan with Anderlecht in Belgium. The list goes on and on ever since Pjaca sustained his first major knee injury in early 2017.

Pjaca is part of a double loan swoop for Genoa, who also announced the acquisition of Chelsea fullback Davide Zappacosta on Saturday.

From Juventus’ official website:

This season, Marko Pjaca will play for Liguria. More precisely in the colours of Genoa: the agreement with the Rossoblu team for the player’s loan, which will last until 30 June 2021, is in fact official.

Ever since Pjaca suffered his first major knee injury, he has gone on loan to the following clubs:

• Schalke
• Fiorentina (where he injured his knee again)
• Anderlecht
• And now Genoa

That is certainly not the kind of career trajectory that Beppe Marotta was hoping for when he shelled out €23 million for Pjaca when he signed with Juventus back in the summer of 2016. Pjaca put pen to paper on a five-year contract with the Italian champions at the time, which means this season-long loan spell will run through the final year of his current contract with Juventus. That means if he has any kind of future with any club in Serie A, this is very much a season-long audition to show that he still has some of that bright talent left and that the knee injuries he has suffered haven’t zapped him in full.

For him, this is opportunity that he wasn’t going to get at Juventus. Simply, the opportunity to try and get things back on track after so many months and now years of difficulty.