Over the last few years as the Saudi Pro League has become more and more of a factor in the two transfer windows, you can always count on at least one or two surprise things to pop up. It doesn’t even matter if it actually is a transfer that goes through or not, the Saudi league is always one that makes you tilt your head to the side like a confused dog a few times each summer.
Here’s that instance for Juventus, I guess.
According to multiple reports out of Italy on Monday, Saudi Arabia side Al Ahli
made a €25 million bid for Juventus midfielder and captain Manuel Locatelli over the course of the last week. It was, as you might be able to predict, rejected by Juve general manager Damien Comolli, With Juventus rejecting the offer for Locatelli, Al Ahli just so happen to now be focusing on a former teammate of the current Bianconeri captain: Monaco’s Denis Zakaria, who is considering a move to Saudi Arabia that would be worth as much as €45 million, according to Fabrizio Romano over the weekennd.
So, in a way, Juventus could still make a little bit of money if Zakaria does move to the Middle East considering Juventus reportedly have a small sell-on clause as part of his move to Monaco a couple of years ago.
Juventus suddenly parting ways with Locatelli just doesn’t seem like something the club would do to rock the boat this summer — especially with the start of the new season less than a week away. Locatelli has become one of the club’s mainstays, and certainly a random €25 million bid in the final two weeks of the summer transfer window isn’t close to enough money for Comolli to even consider any sort of drastic move.
Plus, let’s face it: €25 million just feels like a lot less than what Locatelli’s market value probably is.
Locatelli’s contract with Juventus, one that he extended back in November 2023 after his move from Sassuolo two years earlier, runs through the 2027-28 season.
