Juventus want to sign Turkish starlet Kenan Yildiz to a new deal. That is no secret considering we first heard that a potential new contract offer for the 20-year-old forward before Juve’s participation in the Club World Cup earlier this summer, and that contract extensions have basically become the norm for the club and Yildiz the last couple of years as new seasons have gotten underway.
There was a new deal that came with his promotion to the senior squad in August 2023. The second came in August 2024
— and with a fancy new kit number — before the 2024-25 season kicked off. And while the 2025-26 campaign already underway, Juventus want to make it three contract extensions within the span of just over two years.
According to Italian transfer reporter Nicolo Schira in Wednesday’s edition of Tuttosport, Juventus’ Damien Comolli-led front office are set to meet with Yildiz’s camp — or, most importantly, his father Engin — in the coming days to continue discussing the terms of a new deal that would tie him to the club through 2030. With the contract, that many think is just a formality and there will be no issues during negotiations, Juventus will give Yildiz a sizable pay raise that will make him one of the highest paid players at the club, with a reported annual salary bump up to around €4 million net plus bonuses.
Yildiz currently makes around €1.5 million net a season with a contract that runs through 2029.
Like we’ve (somewhat) joked before when talk about a new Yildiz deal has come up, if they want to make this an annual tradition, then that won’t be the worst thing in the world. New season or fall being just around the corner? Kenan, it’s time to add another year or two onto your current deal and get paid a little more! (OK, so this time it will be a lot more, but that’s also for a very good reason or two.)
Of course, one of the biggest reasons why Juve want to lock Yildiz into an even longer and more handsomely rewarding contract is to show to him just how important he quickly has become to this club both on the field and off it. He is arguably the most recognizable face currently on the roster, and the kind of player who you can see them building around going into the future.
But there’s also another obvious factor: You keep Yildiz happy, you lock him in long term and pay him as you feel a top player at the biggest club in Italy should be paid, then the temptation of the Premier League and the even bigger bucks that come with it aren’t as prevalent. At least in theory. We know that Chelsea has already tried to swoop in and make a bid for Yildiz earlier this summer, with Schira adding that multiple big-money English clubs have approached Juventus about a possible deal for their budding Turkish star.
The hope is that this new contract will continue to keep Yildiz right where he is. And then we can talk about the same kind of things around this time next year when Juve are probably going to try and prepare another new contract for Yildiz because it’s just becoming a thing they do during the late-summer months.
