Juventus have made a formal offer for Roma winger Nicolo Zaniolo, believed to be an onerous loan with an obligation to sign him outright. The Bianconeri have followed the 23-year-old closely for the last few years, and are expected to finally make a concerted effort to sign him this summer.
La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Fabiana Della Valle writes that Roma are not interested in including any players in exchange for Zaniolo, leading the Bianconeri to make a strictly cash offer.
Juve director Federico Cherubini and Claudio Vigorelli, the player’s agent, are in continuous and frequent contact regarding a potential move while Juve management have already held talks with their Roma counterparts.
A first step has already been taken as Juventus and Zaniolo have reached a general agreement on salary and duration of his contract: if he moves to Juve, Nicolò will earn €4 million net (including bonuses) per year for the next 4 seasons, or until 2026.
Juventus are willing to guarantee him a million and a half more than what he currently earns at Rome, more or less the same amount that Federico Bernardeschi was earning in Turin.
For his part, Zaniolo has no doubts about his favourite destination, should he leave Rome this summer, given he is a lifelong Juventino
Gazzetta suggest that the difficult will be to convince Roma, who rejected Juve’s first proposal, and are set on €60 million.
Juventus had tried to include Arthur, Kean and McKennie in the exchange, to lower the fixed part and reach a maximum of €20-25 million in cash, but this was turned down by the Giallorossi.
Juve are now hoping to use a similar formula to the one that netted them Federico Chiesa and Manuel Locatelli, namely a loan with obligation. In this case, the loan would be expensive (around €10 million) and annual (because according to the new FIFA regulations it is no longer possible to make them biennial) with an obligation to buy set at €30-35 million, which would allow Roma to collect up to €40 million, with the addition of bonuses that are triggered when certain conditions are reached (for example a certain number of appearances or the qualification of Juventus for the Champions League).
For now, the suggestion is that Roma are not fully convinced but could change their minds over the course of time and as talks continue.
