Jhon Lucumí and Juventus. A couple almost made official, as Tuttosport’s Nicolò Schira puts it — and likely to be formalised in the days around Ferragosto. All that remains is convincing Bologna to lower their price for a player with just ten months left on his contract. Enter Juan Cabal.
A Colombiano Who Chose the Signora Over Everyone Else
The depth of Lucumí’s commitment to Juventus deserves to be stated plainly. Throughout the summer, the Colombian centre-back has rejected financially superior alternatives from Galatasaray and Besiktas, who were prepared to make significant investments to take him to Turkey. He rebuffed Nottingham Forest despite their Premier League platform and a salary offer of €3.5 million per year — meaningfully above the €2.5 million Juventus have proposed. The reason is simple: Lucumí wanted a top club and wanted to remain in one of European football’s elite leagues. Juventus, in that context, was always the answer — and a five-year agreement in principle has been in place since early August.
Spalletti, who has been one of the primary internal advocates for this signing throughout, believes a Lucumí-Bremer central defensive pairing would be among the finest in Italian football. Bringing them together is a genuine tactical priority.
The Financial Picture Is Shifting in Juventus’s Direction
Time, as Carnevali identified months ago, is the most powerful negotiating tool available in this particular situation. With the original €28 million release clause having expired on 16 July, and with Bologna fully aware that in fewer than six months’ time Lucumí could sign a pre-contract agreement with any club in the world, their leverage is evaporating by the week.
The asking price has already fallen from €25 million to approximately €20 million — a figure that Juventus regard as a workable starting point for a renewed formal offer. That relaunched proposal is expected around Ferragosto, with a cash component of around €17-18 million plus a makeweight included to bridge the remaining gap.
Cabal: The Surprise Card That Bologna Have Always Wanted
The makeweight is the twist. Juan Cabal — a player who has spent most of this summer categorised as a surplus asset with no obvious exit route — has emerged as the unexpected key to the entire operation. Tuttosport reveals that Bologna’s sporting directors Giovanni Sartori and Marco Di Vaio have long been admirers of the Colombian left-back, having made an unsuccessful attempt to sign him two years ago when he was still at Verona. Cristiano Giuntoli’s intervention at the time blocked their pursuit, delivering Cabal to Juventus instead. Now, in one of the summer’s most elegant pieces of transfer symmetry, Cabal could be heading to Dall’Ara after all — on a loan with right to purchase that gives Bologna a player they have coveted for years whilst reducing the cash element of the Lucumí deal to a figure both clubs can accept.
The deal could be finalised this week. The partnership that Spalletti has been requesting since his arrival in Turin is within touching distance. And the surplus player nobody knew what to do with has become the crucial piece that makes it all possible.
