The transfer window’s final 24 hours have brought a midfield story of extraordinary velocity. Having lost Franck Kessié to Atalanta on Saturday morning, Carnevali and Massara reacted with remarkable speed, identifying and pursuing Pape Matar Sarr of Tottenham with sufficient urgency that, by Saturday evening, personal terms with the Senegalese midfielder had already been agreed. La Gazzetta dello Sport reveals that two further names have also been contacted in parallel: Dário Essugo of Villarreal and Yves Bissouma — the Malian midfielder who, in a curious echo of this summer’s earlier transfer work, is also at Tottenham.
Sarr: The Player Who Has Overtaken Monaco and Besiktas
The speed of Juventus’s pivot to Sarr is the most striking element of Saturday’s developments. Within hours of Kessié’s withdrawal becoming public, the Senegalese international — 23 years old, contracted at Spurs until 2030, and completely outside Roberto De Zerbi’s plans — had received and accepted a personal terms offer from the bianconeri. Fabrizio Romano confirmed the personal agreement on Saturday evening, noting that Juventus had overtaken AS Monaco and Besiktas in the race.
De Zerbi himself made the situation definitive in his own pre-match press conference, listing Sarr alongside Richarlison and Kevin Danso as players who had explicitly asked to leave: “Richarlison said too many times he wanted to leave. Danso came to me two days ago and said he wanted to go. Sarr too.” It is, in Fabrizio Romano’s characterisation, a confirmation that cannot be walked back.
Sarr has made 141 Tottenham appearances, contributing 11 goals and 11 assists — a return that reflects a physically powerful, energetic box-to-box midfielder rather than a creative playmaker. This summer, Spurs broke their transfer record twice on midfielders — spending £85 million on Mateus Fernandes and £100 million on Sandro Tonali — making Sarr’s departure entirely logical from a squad management perspective.
The Outstanding Obstacle: Loan vs Obligation
The specific structural disagreement preventing an immediate conclusion is one Juventus have encountered before this summer. They want a loan with a right of purchase. Tottenham want the right converted into a conditional obligation to buy, tied to specific sporting achievements. It is the same tension that briefly stalled the Vicario deal earlier in the window, before a solution was found. Contacts between the two clubs continued late into Saturday night, and Di Marzio confirmed that those conversations were “proceeding positively.”
Essugo and Bissouma: The Parallel Investigations
The Gazzetta della Sport’s morning headline confirms that alongside the Sarr pursuit, Juventus have also conducted preliminary contacts with Essugo of Villarreal — the Portuguese international midfielder who is available on loan — and explored the situation of Bissouma, whose contractual position at Tottenham makes him an accessible option at a modest fee. Both are backup options rather than primary alternatives. The club’s preference, and the player’s preference, is unambiguously Sarr. Whether the final hours of Monday’s window can resolve the loan-versus-obligation dispute will determine whether this summer’s most unexpected midfield story ends with a signing or with one final missed opportunity.
