On Friday, it looked like Juventus’ deal for Youssef En-Nesyri was close to being done. On Saturday, there suddenly became question marks on whether it would actually go through. Now on Sunday, it looks
as though it’s pretty much dead in the water.
That’s not thanks to reporting from those in the Italian media. That is because of the words that one of Juventus’ highest ranking front office members told us directly.
In his customary pre-match interview on Sky Sport Italia ahead of Juventus’ showdown with Napoli at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, Bianconeri Director of Football Strategy Giorgio Chiellini basically said that the talks for En-Nesyri are over because the player himself “expressed a few doubts” about how the deal was formulated. Juventus and Fenerbahce had reportedly agreed to pretty much everything they needed to when it comes to the deal for En-Nesyri, with there being a loan for the second half of the 2025-26 and an option to buy in the summer. The one thing that was missing was the green light from En-Nesyri, but that doesn’t look like it’s suddenly going to be arriving, thus allowing Juve to add a striker in the January transfer window.
Chiellini added Juve will explore other potential opportunities to sign a striker, but the idea of En-Nesyri arriving at the club is something that is now a thing of the past.
Here is Chiellini’s full quote on the situation:
“The situation is pretty clear. We went to speak to the player, he expressed a few doubts on the formula of the transfer, so for us right now the negotiations are over. We cannot and do not want to buy him outright.
“We’ll see over the next few days if there are any developments or other opportunities, but for us it is over.”
(Source: Football Italia)
And that ends that then. You can’t get much clearer regarding a deal falling apart and not happening than what Chiellini has said in just the span of a few sentences. En-Nesyri was reportedly the pivot move from the original target of Jean-Philippe Mateta, with Crystal Palace’s high demands — reportedly a price of around €40 million — being way too much than Juventus could afford.
But, as Chiellini said when it coms to En-Nesyri, there isn’t the budget available to buy him outright this month, therefore a loan with option to buy formula was the only way to get this deal done. That is something that En-Nesyri clearly doesn’t want as he would be sent on loan with an unknown future heading into the summer. (And likely looking at another new club over the summer if Juve were to not pick up the option to buy.)
What this means for where Juve go to try and bring in another striker during the winter window remains to be seen. It’s not like options were aplenty to begin with after the talks with Mateta fizzled out. Now after a deal for En-Nesyri didn’t work out? Who really knows if they can make something happen in the final week of January.
