Juventus have identified the strategy being deployed by Atletico Madrid in the Nico González negotiations — and they have decided to disrupt it. The bianconeri have now begun proactively circulating the Argentine winger to rival clubs, using the threat of a domestic Italian sale to force the Colchoneros away from their comfortable position of calculated delay.
Atletico’s Strategy — and Why Juventus Are Fighting Back
Atletico Madrid’s approach throughout this summer has been transparent to the Continassa: allow the market to wind down, wait until the final days of the window, and then approach Juventus from a position of maximum leverage — knowing González wants to return to Spain and that time is running out. Their preferred formula is a loan with a right of purchase — a structure that generates no immediate capital gain for Juventus and that the bianconeri regard as entirely unacceptable.
Carnevali’s response is the transfer market equivalent of calling a bluff. By actively proposing González to Atalanta, Milan, and others, Juventus are signalling that they have no need to accept an unfavourable formula under duress. If Atletico won’t come to the table with a permanent sale, a Serie A club might.
Atalanta: Giuntoli’s Long-Standing Admiration — but the Wages Are a Problem
Atalanta’s interest is genuine and pre-existing. It was Cristiano Giuntoli himself — now Atalanta’s sporting director — who first brought González to Juventus two summers ago, and his admiration for the player has never dimmed. Manager Marco Sarri is also understood to rate him highly. The obstacle, as Tuttosport’s Nicolò Schira notes, is González’s annual salary of €3.6 million — a figure that sits above Atalanta’s standard wage parameters and that would require a significant commitment from the Percassi family to accommodate.
Milan: A Different Kind of Deal — and Tomori As the Connecting Thread
The most intriguing possibility involves AC Milan — and it is structured not as an isolated González transfer but as part of a broader exchange of business between the two clubs. The logic runs as follows: should Rugani and Gatti depart — Monza, Lazio, Marseille, and Hull City have all shown interest in various combinations — Juventus would have the squad space and financial justification to revisit their long-standing interest in Fikayo Tomori. The English centre-back was signed for Milan in January 2021 by none other than Ricky Massara, who now sits on the other side of the negotiating table. Meanwhile, manager Rúben Amorim is searching for a left-sided attacker capable of playing in a three or behind a centre-forward — a profile González fits precisely. The possibility of Nico moving in the opposite direction to Milan, as part of a wider summer of cooperation between the two clubs, is not to be dismissed.
The Negotiating Tightrope Juventus Must Walk
The challenge for Carnevali and Massara is finding the right balance between generating genuine competing interest to move Atletico off their position, and actually selling González — permanently and at the right price — to a club he doesn’t want to go to. González’s preference for a return to the Spanish capital is unambiguous. Atletico know it, Juventus know it, and González knows it too. The question is simply whether Juventus’s tactical manoeuvring in the market can shift enough psychological and competitive pressure onto the Colchoneros to force their position before the window closes. Fourteen days remain. The clock, as always in this extraordinary summer, is running.
