There is a telling detail buried in the latest reporting on Dušan Vlahović‘s situation: he has not yet left Turin. The Serbian striker is still in the city, continuing a course of therapy to ensure he is fully fit for pre-season, working to put behind him the adductor injury that robbed him of 21 matches and 100 days on the pitch last season. That physical presence in Turin is not merely logistical. It carries meaning — and Giovanni Carnevali is paying close attention.
According to Tuttosport, the two sides remain in deadlock. But the same sources confirm that no, it is not all lost, and nothing is truly over. We are simply at the start of another chapter — one that Carnevali is eager to write, having taken possession of the Vlahović dossier and begun assessing where genuine margins for agreement might lie.
How the Deadlock Was Reached — and Why It Is Not Terminal
The breakdown in talks was never a question of willingness on either side. Vlahović had extended his hand when Juventus appeared ready to take it. What froze the process was the entourage’s demands, which remained high, combined with the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League, a consequent reshaping of financial resources, and a management structure — under Comolli — that ultimately ran out of time and appetite to keep pushing.
None of those obstacles are insurmountable. The new chief executive’s task is to find a fresh angle within the negotiation — a proposal shaped differently enough to re-engage the player, without exceeding what the club can responsibly offer.
What Vlahović Actually Wants
The financial bar is clear: Vlahović would need an offer of over €6 million net per year to seriously consider staying. Luciano Spalletti’s desire to keep him is equally clear — the manager wants to begin the season with a settled, experienced centre-forward as his foundation, and Vlahović is his preferred starting point.
But money alone is not the whole story. Vlahović has a personal requirement that goes beyond the wage packet: he wants to be recognised as the leader of the squad — a genuine captain figure. That symbolic dimension matters to him and will need to be part of any credible offer.
The other outstanding complication is contract length. A two-year deal, which Juventus have been considering, means the entire conversation would need to be revisited in just twelve months’ time — an unappealing prospect for a player who wants certainty and stability. Finding a structure that satisfies his need for security whilst remaining manageable on Juventus’s balance sheet is the puzzle Carnevali must solve.
The Path Still Open
Carnevali is now studying a final attempt to convince both Vlahović and his father Miloš — the man who conducts negotiations directly on his son’s behalf. The new chief executive brings a fundamentally different tone to the conversation: less algorithmic, more human; less ultimatum, more dialogue. That shift in atmosphere alone could make a meaningful difference to a player who felt the previous administration had declared the final meeting over before it had properly started.
Whether this particular ending has simply been postponed — or is truly still unwritten — depends entirely on what Vlahović decides he wants. The door is open. The offer, when it comes, will be the most important one Carnevali makes in his early weeks at the Allianz Stadium.
