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Merih Demiral wants more playing time. That has been something we’ve been hearing about for months now. And if it isn’t going to come at Juventus, a club that he seems to enjoy being at it, then the desire for more playing time will likely take him to another club so that he try and start fulfilling the talent he does have.
Over the past few weeks, Atalanta has emerged as that club that could be Demiral’s next destination where playing time would be more plentiful than he could get if he stays at Juventus.
According to Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, Juventus are warming up to the possibility of letting Demiral join Atalanta on loan with a fixed option to buy once the boys in Bergamo see another center back that the Bianconeri signed in the summer of 2019, Cristian Romero, joins Tottenham. The season on loan would cost Atalanta a few million Euros with the overall price tag of the deal costing them around €25 million.
Romero, Serie A’s Defender of the Year last season, is rumored to be close to a move to London to to join Spurs in a deal that could be worth as much as €50 million
#Calciomercato | La @juventusfc apre al prestito di #Demiral all'@Atalanta_BC: i dettaglihttps://t.co/dNb8Ksa3TD
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) August 2, 2021
The deal, most importantly, would accommodate Demiral’s desire for a lot more playing time, according to Di Marzio. Demiral, who has reportedly been vocal about his “lack” of playing time at Juventus over the last few months, started just 10 games and appeared in 15 Serie A matches total last season.
In theory, Demiral would be able to get a lot more playing time at Atalanta with Romero moving to Tottenham and that large domino falling.
Another piece to the puzzle is that the money that Juventus would receive for the initial loan fee is being looked at as what could allow the Bianconeri to get over the top with a deal for Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli. These are very much times where resources are limited, and therefore a few extra million Euros would allow Juventus to close a deal that they have been negotiating for weeks and are still not up to the task when it comes to meeting Sassuolo’s asking price.