Juventus close to finalising Locatelli switch from Sassuolo

Posted Friday, August 13, 2021 by Goal.com

The Italy star favours Turin as his next destination and could soon be confirmed as Juve's latest signing

Juventus are on the verge of finally sealing Manuel Locatelli's highly anticipated move from Sassuolo.

The Turin giants have been pursuing the Italy midfielder for weeks, and Goal understands that they are in the final stretch of negotiations.

A deal could be struck as soon as Friday, which would be a huge boost for Massimiliano Allegri's men ahead of the start of the 2021-22 Serie A season.

Stepping up the chase
With just one week left before Juve begin their Scudetto quest, they are keen to finalise Locatelli's arrival as soon as possible.

The player himself has made no secret that Turin is his favoured destination even as he attracted interest from the Premier League, with Arsenal also mentioned as possible buyers.

On Friday the Bianconeri are hopeful that a decisive breakthrough will be made in the deal.

Representatives of Sassuolo are expected in Turin that day to further discuss terms with their Juve counterparts, and if talks go well the transfer could be sealed on the same day.

The bigger picture
While both clubs have publicly acknowledged ongoing negotiations over Locatelli, progress in agreeing a suitable fee has been slow.

Sassuolo have held firm on their asking price of €40 million (£35m/$47m), rejecting previous bids that failed to meet that valuation.

Back in July CEO Giovanni Carnevali told Sky Sport Italia: "[Locatelli] wants to join Juve. We'd be happy to sell Manuel to Juve but they need to pay the right fee. Arsenal made a bid to sign him and also a new English club is now in the race."

Juventus, meanwhile, insisted that their offer was just and that they were confident of landing their target.

"We spoke to Sassuolo and we made our offer, which we believe is appropriate for the current climate, with the way finances and the transfer market have been affected by Covid," club director Nedved explained to Sport Mediaset in response to Carnevali's comments.

"We are convinced this is a good offer and it is the right one. We are always confident, naturally in negotiations there are things that must be clarified and resolved.

"When you want a player and that player wants you, it's clear."