Juventus Transfer Market: The Openda Issue Is Finally Resolved—Details and Figures on the Sale of the Flop
Lois Openda is leaving Juventus. The Belgian forward, after a disastrous season with Juventus—scoring just one goal in twenty-four matches—is set to leave the club: he will be transferred to Lyon, the Ligue 1 club with which Juventus reached an agreement following intense negotiations.
Openda will move to France on a paid loan for 3 million euros, with no option to buy: his hefty salary of 7.5 million euros gross will be paid in full by the French club next season. Juventus, which signed him from Leipzig last summer for a fee of nearly 45 million euros, hopes the player will revitalize his career in France to recoup at least part of its investment. At the moment, the player is valued at just around 20 million euros, and no club has come forward for a permanent transfer.
Paradoxically, Openda will take the field in Juventus’s friendly match on Saturday against Standard Liège in Belgium: Luciano Spalletti, in fact, has no other forwards available. Yildiz is not yet in top form, Milik and Zhegrova are sidelined with injuries—as is new signing Ekhator—Dusan Vlahovic is a free agent, and Jonathan David is still on vacation following the World Cup in North America, as is Francisco Conceição.
On the Vlahovic front: the Serbian forward, a free agent since June 30, is reported to have received a concrete offer from Besiktas—a three-year contract worth 13.5 million euros per season, for a total value of nearly 30 million. The driving force behind the deal is Vincenzo Italiano, the coach who had already helped Vlahovic shine during his time at Fiorentina and who now manages the Turkish club. The player’s agent, Ristic, is said to have flown to Istanbul to finalize the last details, while the chances of a return to Juventus are dwindling: the Bianconeri are unwilling to go beyond 6.5 million euros per season, a figure far below the 9 million euros demanded by the striker. Keep an eye on Napoli as well, as the club has once again been linked to the player in recent hours.
