A lot of attention during the early days of Juventus’ offseason have been dominated by the talk about the striker position. And rightfully so when you consider that the highest-paid player in the league, Dusan Vlahovic, is leaving the club after not being able to come to an agreement on a new contract and the club seems to be trying to act quickly when bringing in a replacement for the high-priced No. 9 from Serbia.
Any talk of the defense has been surrounded around who will likely be Juventus’ starter
in goal next season, with things going from Alisson Becker to now Emi Martinez, who has reportedly agreed to personal terms with the Bianconeri.
But what about who could be playing in front of that new starting goalkeeper?
According to Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio on Wednesday night, Juventus have checked in on things regarding Bologna center back Jhon Lucumí, making an inquiry into his availability and desire to potentially move to Turin this summer. Lucumí, who is currently on international duty with Colombia at the 2026 World Cup, is reportedly a player who Juve manager Luciano Spalletti is keen to sign this summer and also a player in which his current employer, Bologna, is expecting to leave for a nice profit over the next couple of months.
Lucumí, who has one year left on his contract with Bologna, has a €28 million release clause that expires in mid-July, according to Di Marzio.
Di Marzio’s report about Juventus’ interest comes a few hours after Italian transfer report Nicolo Schira linked Lucumí with a move to Bournemouth in the aftermath of Marcos Senesi officially moving to Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer. But this also isn’t the first time that Lucumí has been linked with Juventus, with reports of potential interest coming up two months ago when the Bianconeri were set to play Bologna. (You know, as the Italian press is want to do sometimes when Juve are set to play a team on the schedule and link them with one of their opponent’s better players.)
It seems like this can be looked at in two ways.
- Lucumí is left footed and is somebody Spalletti wants to pair with Gleison Bremer.
- Lucumí, despite being left footed, could be somebody who is an option to potentially replace Bremer if he were to be surrendered to the financial burdens that come with no Champions League football next season.
Which one is it? Well, it’s hard to say right now considering it’s the early days of a summer transfer market in a World Cup year in which so much movement will probably delayed until certain players are done with their respective national team duties. Lucumí could very well be one of those players — unless the reported release clause is triggered, of course.
But Juventus’ need to upgrade at center back is certainly real. Even if Bremer does stay this summer, that is a real thing that needs to happen even with the financial restrictions. Just how it happens, though, remains to be seen.
