The announcement of Juventus’ third signing of the summer of 2026 isn’t as big of a surprise and out of nowhere when compared to the first simply because of the days it took between the first reporting of it to the day he arrived at J Medical to undergo his exams.
However, it’s still quite the surprise that it has actually happened.
Bosnian starlet Kerim Alajbegović is a Juventus player, the club announced Sunday on the cusp of their departure for their summer tour in Hong Kong and Australia. Alajbegović comes
to Juventus after a couple of rather stunning days in which the reality set in that a Juve in its current form was able to beat both the money and the appeal of the Premier League to sign an up-and-coming talent like this young man is. He arrives with the hopes of teaming with Kenan Yildiz to bring the kind of dynamic we haven’t see at Juventus the last few years (if not more) and might be the
The total cost to bring Alajbegović to Turin? If everything goes as Juve hope and all those bonuses are met, it’s a fee of €35 million, with the initial €30 million fee going to Bayer Leverkusen — the club in which Alajbegović grew up at before spending last season at RB Salzburg in Austria — over the course of the next four years.
Alajbegović has signed a five-year deal through 2031, a deal that is hopefully the first of many just as we’ve seen with Yildiz as he’s become such a huge part of the squad the last two years.
The official details of the deal from Juventus’ press office:
Turin, 02 August 2026 – Juventus Football Club S.p.A. announces that an agreement with Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball for the definitive acquisition of the registration rights of the player Kerim Alajbegovic has been reached for a consideration of € 30 million, payable in four financial years, with the addition of ancillary costs up to € 2 million; furthermore, bonuses up to a maximum of € 5 million are envisaged upon the achievement of further performance objectives.
Juventus and the player have signed a contract of employment until the 30 June 2031.
That is obviously a whole lot of clams for a player who is not even 19 years old yet. However, for a squad that has been crying out for a creative force and connector at the No. 10 spot ever since Luciano Spalletti took over for Igor Tudor in late October of last year. (But let’s be honest, it’s been for much longer than that and goes back multiple coaches no matter who they have signed or tried in that position.) And we say the No. 10 position because it is where Spalletti said he saw Alajbegović fitting in when speaking to the Italian media after Juve’s friendly against Nice just a couple of days ago.
Spalletti put it quite simply: “I see Alajbegovic as more of a trequartista behind the striker.”
If that’s the case, then it probably won’t take long to see how Alajbegović and Yildiz combine. That is going to be one of the biggest talking points of the early season without question, and the dynamic between the two young attacking talents is quite exciting just on paper. Once we see how they vibe on the field will likely take that to another level.
As we await those first minutes be it when the preseason tour gets going or when the Serie A season kicks off for real, it’s safe to say that this is the kind of young attacking talent that gets a whole lot of people excited. Now we get to see what Kerim is all about as he wears bianconero for the first time.
