Reports: Roma now favorites to sign Juventus target Bryan Reynolds

As the days go by and you don’t hear anything after a reported transfer deal is “close” to being done, sometimes your mind has to wonder why things haven’t taken that most important of steps and actually gotten done. (This can also apply to a certain contract extension with a certain Juventus player who wears the No. 10 jersey right now.)

This was the case earlier this month when it came to Juventus’ reported deal for FC Dallas youngster Bryan Reynolds, who would have had to sign with Benevento at first because of the Bianconeri’s current lack of non-EU spots. It made you think, seeing as we were going on two weeks of waiting for some kind of officially official announcement, that a snag had been hit in the final negotiations.

And now we know why that last step hasn’t happened.

According to reports from Sky Sport Italia — seriously, it wasn’t just Gianluca Di Marzio and/or Fabrizio Romano; it felt like every single one of their reporters were on this one — as well as Goal Italia’s Romeo Agresti and others, Roma has swooped in and taken over the pole position to sign the 19-year-old Texan. Roma being involved in this deal is no surprise seeing as they’ve always been viewed as the biggest contender not named Juventus for Reynolds’ signature. And with this lag in Juventus being able to completely close the deal and have officially announced, Roma had the opportunity to put a new proposal on the table, reportedly around €7 million with potential add-ons and incentives, that clearly is something FC Dallas likes just a little bit more than what Juve is currently offering up.

Basically, Juve let Roma hang round and in the 85th minute or so, they just tied the game and are about to take a PK to win it.

As Agresti suggests, Juventus doesn’t look like they will match this new offer from Roma —which, considering how there hasn’t been all that much news from Juve’s end of the deal for nearly two weeks, that might not be all that much of a surprise. Di Marzio’s report stated that the deal could be closed as early on Monday if Roma do end up signing Reynolds, who became a full-time starter for FC Dallas this past season.

It has been previously reported that Reynolds, who has yet to receive a full senior call-up to the U.S. Men’s National Team, and Juventus had agreed to personal terms. Under the reported framework of the deal between Juventus and FC Dallas, Reynolds would have spent the second half of the 2020-21 season on loan at Benevento and possibly stayed there for another season if they avoid relegation and stay in Serie A next year. This was predicated on the fact that Juventus didn’t have any non-EU signing spots available this season after acquiring Weston McKennie and Arthur over the summer.

Reynolds will still be heading to Italy, but his next team looks like it will be Roma rather than Juventus.