After five Serie A matchdays, the championship has paused for Roberto Mancini’s Italy’s Nations League fixtures. Among the early season’s most appreciated teams is Aquilani’s Sassuolo — winners against Juventus, seven points from the first five matchdays before the Monza defeat. And among the talents showcasing themselves in the neroverde shirt, one name is generating attention well beyond Emilia: Darryl Bakola, French-born, born in 2007, arrived from Marseille last January for €10 million.
The Carnevali Thread — the Man Who Brought Him to Italy Now Wants Him at Juventus
The connection between Bakola and Juventus runs directly and personally through Giovanni Carnevali. It was Carnevali, in his final months as Sassuolo’s chief executive, who identified the teenager and secured his move to Italy — outcompeting several European rivals for a player considered one of French football’s most promising young midfielders. Carnevali knows him better than virtually any director in Italian football. Now, seven months later, he wants him at his new club.
The interest is confirmed by La Gazzetta dello Sport and reported by Calciomercato’s Francesco Guerrieri: Bakola is on Juventus’s monitoring list, with the Carnevali connection providing a structural advantage in any future negotiation.
Roma’s Interest — and the Benatia Trail That Started Earlier
Juventus are not alone. Roma had been alerted to Bakola’s qualities before his January move to Sassuolo — Mehdi Benatia, then director at Marseille, had specifically recommended him to the Giallorossi. Rome chose other directions at the time. The player moved to Emilia instead. Roma never lost sight of him and are now monitoring his progress as a potential future replacement for Manu Koné — alongside Mandela Keita of Parma as another profile of interest in that role.
The Player — Mezzala in a 4-3-3, Two Assists, Already on the Trequarti
Bakola is a midfielder with strong offensive characteristics — deployed by Aquilani primarily as a mezzala in his 4-3-3, though the Sassuolo manager also envisions him advancing further into the trequarti zone as the season progresses. In six appearances across Serie A and the Coppa Italia, he has already contributed two assists — performances that have confirmed the raw talent that convinced Carnevali to bring him to Italy in the first place.
He arrived at Sassuolo in the second half of last season for a period of adjustment. He is now a regular starter. The trajectory, after only five matchdays, is already one of the most encouraging of any young player in Italian football — and for a club with a clear philosophy of developing talent for eventual high-value sale, the pattern could not be more familiar.
The Future — Carnevali’s Asset, Sassuolo’s Next Windfall
Should Bakola continue performing at this level, Gazzetta concludes, he will become one of the protagonists of the next transfer window — and for Sassuolo another capital gain to register. For Juventus, the logic is clear and entirely consistent with the summer’s philosophy: a young, technically gifted central midfielder at an accessible price point, known personally to the chief executive, with a development arc that maps perfectly onto what the club is trying to build. The monitoring, at this stage, is active and deliberate. What comes next depends on the months ahead. But Carnevali brought this player to Italy. He has not forgotten why.
