Report: Juventus to open contract talks with Dusan Vlahovic in the coming days

It wasn’t so long ago that many of us were freaking out regarding the fact that Dusan Vlahovic was very much rumored to be one half of a swap deal in which he would head to Chelsea for Romelu Lukaku and cash. The problem was, besides the obvious fact that each player is at a different stage of his career, that Chelsea and Juve had very different ideas of how much money should be included in the deal.

Because of that, things fell apart, leading to predictable rumors that Lukaku maybe wasn’t as interested in joining Juventus as he was simply just trying to find a way away from Chelsea, a club that was equally desperate to get rid of such a sunk cost.

Now, basically a month removed from those Vlahovic-Lukaku rumors dying down, things are starting to look up again for the big Serbian striker. And that’s not just because he’s stayed at Juventus, but he’s also playing well and could get rewarded for sticking with the Old Lady.

According to Italian transfer reporter Nicolo Schira earlier this week, Juventus are set to open contract extension talk with Vlahovic’s camp in the coming days. The belief is that new Juve chief Cristiano Giuntoli, to the surprise of no one, believes that the 23-year-old Vlahovic is a centerpiece for the club going forward and is ready to hand him a contract extension through 2027 or 2028. The goal, besides locking in Vlahovic to a long-term contract, is to spread out the amortization of his contract.

As Schira explains in an article for Tuttosport, Vlahovic’s salary currently stands at €9 million plus potential bonuses. The thing is, though, it’s not going to stay that way. Next season, it will go up to €10 million plus bonuses. When we hit the 2025-26 campaign, the final season of his current deal, Vlahovic’s salary will hit €12 million net.

But, as Giuntoli has said in recent interviews, the key for Juventus going forward is to become both a quality team but also one that is both financially smart and sustainable in the longer term. It has been a big goal of the summer transfer window to not just bring down the age of the squad but also cut the high salaries of older players like players who weren’t brought back (Juan Cuadrado, Angel Di Maria, Leandro Paredes) or those who left during the summer (Leonardo Bonucci).

Vlahovic, who has scored four goals in Juventus’ first four games this season, is part of a large group of players that Juventus’ new sporting team wants to sign to new deals, according to reports earlier this month. That group reportedly includes Federico Chiesa, Wojciech Szczesny, Adrien Rabiot, Federico Gatti and Samuel Iling-Junior. Chiesa, the biggest name in the group outside of Vlahovic, is currently signed through 2025.