Talent is the word that unites Adin Licina and Vasilije Adžić — the property of Juventus’s future, but not its present. A year apart in age — Licina born in 2007, Adžić in 2006 — different roles, different personalities, yet the same natural relationship with the ball: one a pure left-footer, the other right-footed. The club decided for them — and with them — to pursue a path of development elsewhere, without ever losing control of either. Licina has joined a competitive Cremonese in Serie B on a straight loan for the season. Adžić has gone to sharpen himself at one of Italian football’s finest development environments — Sassuolo — on a paid loan of €500,000, with a purchase option for the Emilian club at €12 million and a counter-option for Juventus at a further €1.7 million that ensures they retain the ability to bring him back.
Both are stunning in their opening weeks. Goals, assists, and spectacle. Which has inevitably prompted the question: would it not have been right to keep them and try to launch them in Turin instead?
The Plan — Space to Grow Without the Weight of Juventus’s Expectations
The idea at the Continassa — shared by Spalletti himself — is different. Both players needed something that the Allianz Stadium, with its requirements and its scrutiny, could not currently offer: air, space, freedom, the possibility of making mistakes without those mistakes being amplified immediately into a crisis, the ability to take the creative risk without the consequences burning them. The provinces, Tuttosport notes, offer formative environments that are demanding without being crushing.
The question is entirely legitimate. The answer is not simple. But in the week that has seen Locatelli and Thuram both require surgery — leaving Spalletti with two fit senior central midfielders and a teenager from the Next Gen as his emergency options — the absence of both players is, as Stefano Lanzo writes with characteristic honesty, felt with at least a touch of regret.
Licina: Two Goals in Two Appearances, the City Already Won
At Cremonese, under manager Fabio Pecchia — one of the most trusted developers of young Italian talent in the second division — Licina has hit the ground running with extraordinary force. Two goals in two appearances, plus an assist, in what is only his first experience of proper senior football beyond the Next Gen. He has already won the city — not just with his performances but with the seriousness and professionalism that were equally appreciated in Turin. His dream remains Juventus, but inside a project where he can be genuinely ready for a leading role — a situation that has not materialised this season given the volume of senior players occupying his position. Cremonese, competing for Serie B promotion, is the ideal next step. Juventus have protected themselves entirely: no sale was agreed, offers from Napoli and Parma in August were rejected, and the straight loan ensures he returns to the Continassa when the season ends.
Adžić: A Role Tailored by Aquilani — Notevole Potential Still Firmly Owned by Juventus
At Sassuolo, Adžić is a step higher — Serie A level — and after the doubts that emerged in the second half of last season at Juventus, when a promising start gave way to marginalisation, the Montenegrin has immediately found himself again in the environment Alberto Aquilani has built. Goals of weight, quality, and a mezzala role tailored precisely to his qualities by the Sassuolo manager. Carnevali and Massara have structured the deal specifically to retain leverage: the counter-option in Juventus’s favour exists precisely because the club retains full awareness of what Adžić can become. His potential, Tuttosport is emphatic, is considerable.
Would either of them have been useful this week? With the honesty of hindsight, and particularly with regard to Adžić and the complete midfield emergency currently engulfing the squad — yes, perhaps. But the plan was made in good faith, with the players’ long-term development at its centre, and the pride in watching them flourish elsewhere comfortably outweighs the regret. For now, at least.
