Juventus’ top choice when it comes to adding a striker this summer has always been the guy who they had on their roster — albeit on a short-term loan — for the second half of the 2024-25 season. However, when it comes the negotiations to ensure that Randal Kolo Muani is a Juve player again this season, they have been, let’s just say, rather difficult to actually complete.
That has, it seems, caused
Juventus to do a last-minute pivot to other options.
As negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain for Kolo Munai has reached a point in which a deadlock can’t finally be sorted out, Juventus have turned their attention toward a bit more affordable option. According to reports out of Italy late Sunday night, Juve have turned their attention toward RB Leipzig striker Loïs Openda — a clear sign that the club still wants to add to its attacking depth ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline. Sky Italia have gone so far to say that Juve have made an offer to RB Leipzig for Openda — who has also been linked with a potential move to AC Milan earlier this summer — although their report didn’t specifically say what it would take to bring the 25-year-old Belgian to Turin on Deadline Day.
Some other, however, did give us an idea of what a potential might look like.
Openda certainly wouldn’t come cheap if Juve are to sign him, as SportItalia’s Alfredo Pedulla reported Sunday night it could cost between €45 million and €50 million to secure his services. He would likely arrive on loan with an option to buy that could become an obligation under certain conditions — something that sounds a lot like how Juve’s deal with Atlético Madrid is for Nico González is going to be structured.
In the same kind of fashion as soon-to-be Juventus signing Edon Zhegrova, Openda didn’t have the greatest of 2024-25 seasons but has shown in the years before that he is a talent worth pursuing. Like Zhegrova as well, he also lined up against Juventus in the Champions League season, being a part of a wild 3-2 comeback win that the Bianconeri recorded against Leipzig last October. (And, of course, that is the game in which Gleison Bremer’s knee went kaboom.)
Last season, Openda scored nine goals and had five assists in 33 total Bundesliga appearances for an RB Leipzig squad that certainly was a bit of a mess in attack despite having very talented players. (You might have heard Manchester United spent a whooooooole lotta money for their big new No. 9 who doesn’t wear No. 9 a few weeks ago.)
Prior to that, though, Openda recorded 24 and 21 goals for Leipzig and Lens, respectively, bursting onto the scene in a big kind of way after spending two years with Club Brugge and then Vitesse in the Dutch top flight.
Openda is certainly more Jonathan David than he is Kolo Muani or Dusan Vlahovic when it comes to his stature. He’s not a big body who is going to basically post up and play with his back to goal. Instead, because he is only 5-foot-9, he is much more in the seconda punta kind of mold rather than a target man. But, as he’s shown, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the capability of putting some big goal tallies together.
Considering that the negotiations with PSG for Kolo Muani have stalled, Juve are quickly trying to find a deal that works both on a financial basis as well as can just get done in time on Deadline Day. Or maybe it’s just one last attempt to try and leverage things with PSG to push a deal for Kolo Muani through. At this point, it’s hard to say because so much has happened without a deal not actually happening the last couple of weeks.
