Manuel Locatelli said joining Juventus is ‘a dream come true’ and salutes Sassuolo. ‘Life is made of choices and it was the right time to say goodbye.’
The Italy international finally completed his transfer today after weeks of tense negotiations.
“It’s a dream come true,” he told Juventus TV.
“The dream of a child who worked so hard, that has given everything on the pitch, that arrives at Juve with the desire to take to the field for the fans and who can’t wait to get onto the pitch at the stadium.
“And that’s just the start!”
It will be a two-year loan from Sassuolo for free, with obligation to buy for €25m from 2023 plus up to another €12m in bonuses.
There are reports at least €10m of those bonuses will be relatively simple to activate, with the extra €2.5m tougher to achieve.
Some have questioned how Juventus got such good terms on the deal, but it was not dissimilar to the situation last summer with Federico Chiesa and Fiorentina.
Arsenal had offered far more lucrative deals to both Sassuolo and the player, but Locatelli had his heart set on Juve and would not even consider other destinations.
Locatelli also saluted his Sassuolo supporters after completing the transfer.
“What to say. The tears I had yesterday when saying goodbye to the squad are proof you are in my heart. You always will be, because you made me become a better person and player.
“Life is made of choices and it was the right time to say goodbye after you accompanied me on this wonderful journey. It has not been easy, you know that, but once you overcome the difficulties, the result is extraordinary.
“You are my family, you took me to winning the Euros. I will always love you. Thank you from the depths of my heart to the Squinzi family, who showed belief in me. Thank you to all the teammates who, between a telling off and a speech, made me a man.
“Thank you to director Carnevali, Giovanni Rossi and coach De Zerbi, for whom I will always feel something special. Thank you to all from Fofo to every person who works in this oasis of joy. I love you all so much. Arrivederci, Sassuolo.”
welcome luca
We Milan fans have bemoaned the loss of Locatelli to from how the player behaved at the beginning (demanding a transfer to Sassuolo) and from things he’s said in the last few months about moving to Juventus, to rejecting a higher offer from Arsenal to sign for Juventus, I can’t help get the impression that he’s a player that was always a Juve fan that never really want to play for Milan. Any complaint from him not getting enough playing time at Milan was because he just wanted to play (fair enough). So in that sense any sentimentality about him having been a Milan youth product is kind of over for me. At this point he’s a Juve fan playing for Juve, a club I can’t stand.
[edited] We Milan fans have bemoaned the loss of Locatelli. But from how the player behaved at the beginning (demanding a transfer to Sassuolo), and from things he’s said in the last few months about moving to Juventus, to rejecting a higher offer from Arsenal to sign for Juventus, I can’t help get the impression that he’s a player that was always been a Juve fan that never really want to play for Milan per se. Any complaint from him not getting enough playing time at Milan was because he just wanted to play (fair enough). So in that sense any sentimentality about him having been a Milan youth product is kind of over for me. At this point he’s a Juve fan playing for Juve, a club I can’t stand.
@ Vero Rossonero:
Your comments could have some substance in it, and let’s be honest, this locatelli situation hurts to any milan fan, we’ve seen it happen time and again Milan letting go of their jewels simply because of lack of confidence in them, yet so many other’s not from the youth setup getting so much unwarranted chances, youths like…Darmian, Aubameyang, Cristante, Cutrone (yes, Cutrone) even Acerbi though not a youth, and many many more….now Pobega, and who knows next…yet the Krunic’s, Cstilejos (no offence to any of these players) get chances over chances…why???
…cont…
What even pains more is how they treat their youths like valueless when letting them go, so cheap, no buyback clauses or future %ge sale, different from how the Spanish and to some extent the English treat their youth products, hefty price tags, so many clauses and buyback options, at least if not take them back they make some profits in them, therefore as long as this keeps going on like this, then Milan will keep on loosing jewels in search of rough stones, and make losses, cause any player who feels valued and given confidence and at a big club will rarely force to leave even if they’re fans of other teams, apart from a few (The Donnarummas) other than that tears will be shed by those youths whose dreams end up shuttered…and end up getting refuge at rival clubs…😖
@S.I.M. Not disputing this at all. I was simply making an observation unique to Locatelli. I’m very much in agreement with the notion that Milan, generally over the course of the last 20 years or so, has made enough of an effort to give academy players a chance. Some do make it, but many don’t. It’s hard to say why this is. But I do think that clubs that are trying to compete can’t afford to give minutes to developing players. Or at least they think they can’t. It’s more of a weird psychological thing. Look at Barcelona in the mid 00s to mid 10s. They were world beaters, and most of the players had come up through the cantera, including Messi. Suddenly they found themselves at the top and instead of continuing to rely on the winning formula they started to make more and more expensive purchases. Now they’re 1bn euro in the red and without Messi. They literally can’t sign anyone at this point, even on a free.
*has NOT made enough of an effort
Milan is a joke and will continue to be a joke for a long time . And I have been a fan since the 80s. They never give youth a chance and buy these garbage washed up players
@ Vero Rossonero:
Spot on about Locatelli! Don’t think he wanted a career at Milan and certainly a move to the less glamorous Sassuolo was a smart move on his part to show his worth over time and its now definitely paid off for him. Personally think his teammate Berardi should be the player Milan should be aiming to sign
Yaay!
@Dan. I also think of Mattia de Sciglio. Came up through the academy and was starting RB, but then suddenly he wants to go to Juve. I get that during the period he was at the club there wasn’t much in the way of trophies, but there are so many competitive clubs that are not Juve that he could have gone to. So now he gets to say he won a couple of scudettos, but from the bench and increasingly irrelevant. I think if Allegri hadn’t showed up again that he would have been sold this summer.
All these teams which don’t give chance to deserving young Italian players .. what are they winning btw?? They won’t finish any worse by giving some of the young talents a chance?? Thank God that Chiesa etc were given proper chance to showcase talent for Mancini to pick in Euro Squad. Hopefully more get similar chance!!