Juventus and Nottingham Forest doing business this summer has been the surprising constant in a summer that hasn’t actually much official business take place for the Turin giants.
And as we enter the final week of the summer transfer window, it doesn’t look like the two clubs are suddenly going to stop talking about doing a little bit more business.
First came the deal with Timothy Weah and Samuel Mbangula that didn’t happen. Then came the deal for Douglas Luiz that did actually happen. Now, there’s
a third piece of business being discussed, with Nottingham Forest sending in a low-ball bid of €11 million for young Italian fullback Ncolo Savona, according to Sky Italia transfer reporter Gianluca Di Marzio. Juventus have, as you might have expected, rejected the bid from Forest, with new general manager Damien Comolli wanting at least €18 million, according to Di Marzio, if the club is to part with Savona.
Savona and Nottingham Forest reportedly have the framework of a deal put together with a contract through 2030 and a salary of €2 million net a season, according to Nico Schira.
So if Di Marzio’s reporting is correct — and he’s one of the more reputable sources out there so we’ll go with it — then that’s a €7 million gap to try and eliminate over the next few days. Even if Forest come in with a bid worth €15 million million shortly like has been suggested over the last few hours, that’s still a sizable difference to try and make up.
And because Juventus would reap the rewards of sweet, sweet capital gains with the sale of a former youth product in Savona, the closer to that reported €18-20 million valuation is just all the better.
But, for now, you have a Premier League side that isn’t lacking for cash — because nobody in the richest league in the world really is outside of maybe one or two clubs thanks to PSR — that is trying to swoop in and get a club-friendly deal for a young Italian defender just a couple of weeks after Liverpool spent three times what Forest just bid for another talented young Italian defender. Now, of course, Giovanni Leoni has a higher ceiling is rated more highly than Savona, but Juventus have every right to reject such a low bid … and then keep on rejecting what Forest send over their way during the next week or so.
