You’re probably sitting there thinking about how you’ve already seen this type of thing over the last few weeks. And you know what? You’re not wrong. This is not the first time that this kind of headline has run on this specific Juventus-centric website, and it probably won’t be the last over the course of the following few weeks as the summer transfer window ramps up.
But, again, we’re hearing the headline: A Juve transfer target has agreed to personal terms with the club.
What comes next, just as
those before, is truly anybody’s guess.
This time around, it’s a player who has already received a few paychecks from Juventus, with Paris Saint-Germain striker (even though he is completely out of their plans) Randal Kolo Muani agreeing to a deal with the Bianconeri, according to Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio on Thursday. Of course, that isn’t all that much of a surprise — this is the same Kolo Muani who wanted to re-sign with Juventus last summer … and then back in the winter when his time at Tottenham Hotspur was going about as poorly as you could have thought. For the last 12 months (at least) we know that coming back to Juventus has been what Kolo Muani wants — which is something that he said last summer during the Club World Cup and has basically been reiterating every single time he is a topic of discussion in the Italian press.
This time around, Juventus and the 27-year-old Kolo Muani have reportedly agreed to a five-year contract, with an agreement being finalized “in the last few hours,” according to Di Marzio. There is no word on what his potential salary may be in the reporting from Di Marzio, but it can be pretty much assumed that it will be a significant pay cut from what he makes at PSG — which is basically the same situation as last summer when Kolo Muani wanted to return to Juventus.
Of course, Kolo Muani is not the first transfer target that Juventus’ front office has agreed to personal terms with over the last four or six weeks. Here’s what we’ve heard through the Italian press already:
- Agreed personal terms with Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker. It proved to be a deal that never happened as he looks set to stay at Anfield this summer.
- Agreed to personal terms with Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez. It’s a deal we’re still waiting to see if it actually happens.
- Agreed to personal terms with Atlético Madrid striker Alexander Sørloth. Like Martinez, it’s a deal we’re still waiting to see if it actually happens.
So yeah, we’ve been down this road before. Is getting the framework of a contract done important? Of course! That’s especially true when it comes to Kolo Muani for the simple fact that you know damn well the amount of money he would make at Juventus is not going to come close to rivaling what he’s on the hook for at PSG.
But, at the same time, PSG are in no hurry to sell Kolo Muani. They can just sit and wait because they are not strapped for cash or trying to suddenly generate funds. They can hold out on Juventus for as long as they want when it comes to negotiations for Kolo Muani. Juve are the ones who need a striker, not PSG. So as much as Kolo Muani is not in their plans, they are in no hurry to get a deal done.
Juventus, on the other hand, are in a different sort of situation. They are both strapped for cash and in need of a striker. So who has the leverage here? I think you can figure that one out.
