Reports: Juventus closing in on deal to send Facundo Gonzalez on loan to Sampdoria

From the moment he signed with Juventus earlier this month, it’s been a waiting game to see where Facundo Gonzalez was going to go out on loan. There was plenty of interest, but other than a potential season with Salernitana nothing seemed to be all that concrete.

Rather than heading to Salerno, Gonzalez appears set to meet up with an old friend of ours.

According to Goal Italia’s Romeo Agresti and Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Italia, Juventus are finalizing a deal to send Gonzalez on loan to Sampdoria and first-year manager Andrea Pirlo. Rather than have Gonzalez — who never appeared with Valencia’s senior team during his time in Spain — get his first taste of life in Italy with a side in Serie A, it seems as though Juventus has chosen to ease him into things a little more with a year in Serie B under a manager in Pirlo who guided Samp to a season-opening win over Ternana this past weekend.

Gonzalez will head out on his loan spell this season coming off an impressive run at the Under-20 World Cup in which he helped Uruguay record six shutouts in seven games, including a 1-0 win over Italy in the final.

The rumored move to Salernitana also involved a couple of other Juventus youngsters in midfielders Fabio Miretti and Hans Nicolusi Caviglia. While it appears that Miretti and HNC could both be staying for the time being, Gonzalez going out on loan has never really been in doubt. Now, instead of Serie A it will be in Serie B and with a manager that Juventus knows quite well.

The hope, obviously, is that Gonzalez’s loan spell in Serie B goes along the lines of Nicolo Fagioli’s season with Cremonese a couple of years ago. And if the 20-year-old Gonzalez does well with Sampdoria, he could put himself in position for a spot at Juventus once Alex Sandro’s contract expires next summer. (Remember, Gonzalez is something that no other Juve center back is: naturally left-footed.)