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The dominoes are falling, and that means another central defender is about to sign with Atalanta after signing with Juventus for a good chunk of money two summers ago.
Atalanta is ready to sell Cristian Romero to Tottenham for a large amount of money. And because that domino is about to become official, Atalanta has already lined up Romero’s replacement — a player who just so happened to be the one who stayed in Turin while the young Argentine was sent right back to Genoa on loan two years ago.
After a day or two of hammering out the final details between the two clubs, Juventus and Atalanta have agreed to terms on a loan deal for Turkish defender Merih Demiral, according to multiple reports in Italy. The 23-year-old Demiral will first arrive on loan with an option to buy after the 2021-22 season. The total cost of the deal, according to Sky Italia’s Fabrizio Romano, will be around €31 million, with the first €3 million coming for the loan and Atalanta having a buy option of €28 million next summer.
Tottenham will prepare paperworks for Cristian Romero deal today, after agreement reached with Atalanta. €55m fee confirmed with add ons. Done deal. Romero will soon fly to London. ⚪️ #THFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 4, 2021
...and Demiral joins Atalanta from Juventus on loan [€3m] with buy option [€28m].
Demiral, who was not at Juventus’ Wednesday morning training session, has long been thought to not be happy with the playing time he received during the 2020-21 season. And this has been a big reason as to why Juventus has put him on the transfer market, with Atalanta clearly coming to negotiate for the young Turk because of their need for a new central defender as Romero heads off to London in the next few days.
It had been previously reported that Juventus wanted upward of €40 million for Demiral, who first arrived from Sassuolo for €18 million in the summer of 2019.
The other domino that could fall with Juventus getting another couple million Euros in relatively short order is that it could be enough influx of cash to unlock the deal for Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli. Juventus and Sassuolo are reportedly set to meet in the next day or two, and there is a clear desire on the Bianconeri’s part to wrap up the deal before it potentially extends into another week.