Like young goalkeeper Giovanni Daffara, even younger Genoa striker Jeff Ekhator was part of Italy’s extremely experimental roster that played a pair of very low-profile friendlies against Luxembourg and Greece.
Unlike Daffara, Ekhator not only made his senior-level debut during the Greece friendly, but now he looks like he is about to get a shot at Juventus before he celebrates his 20th birthday.
According to reports from just about everybody of note in the Italian media on Tuesday afternoon and into
the evening, Juventus have closed a deal that will see Ekhator sign with the Bianconeri that is worth a fee that is reportedly around €16 million plus another €2 million in add-ons. Juventus, however, will insert a player into the deal — or at least have one adjacent to it — in the form of Next Gen fullback prospect David Puczka, who will cost around €5 million.
As of this writing, Ekhator has arrived in Turin and made his way to J Medical to undergo his medical exams. After that, Ekhator is expected to sign a five-year contract with Juve and earn a reported €1.3 million net a season.
This, as you’re probably thinking, comes a bit out of nowhere — especially when you consider the fact a lot of the talk as Juventus approached the end of June was about trying to get some last-minute money in to make everything OK on the books. That’s why we’ve heard that Juve are set to sell Daffara to Parma for €6 million, with other minor deals (that will likely involve Next Gen players and their bonus of being pure profit transactions) likely to follow to avoid things being in serious danger of more UEFA sanctions.
When it comes to Ekhator, this is the first time in a few years in which Juventus have had one of the big young Italian striker prospects on their roster. Barring something major happening this summer — and these days, you never really know — you have to believe that Juventus are investing this kind of money and moving this quickly to secure Ekhator’s signature to ensure he will be on Luciano Spalletti’s roster come the start of the 2026-27 season.
Ekhator made his senior level debut at the age of 17 with Genoa, coming on as a late substitute in the early rounds of the Coppa Italia. A week later, he made his Serie A debut under then-manager Alberto Gilardino in a draw against Inter Milan.
In 1,725 minutes over the course of his first two Serie A seasons, Ekhator has made 54 appearances and scored four goals. As you might expect, most of his appearances have come as a substitute, with him making six starts as a 17-year-old in 2024-25 and seeing that number go up to nine starts this past season.
