Sassuolo director Giovanni Carnevali is ‘annoyed’ that Juventus contacted Domenico Berardi without talking to the Neroverdi and confirms the Italian winger won’t move to Turin: ‘The deadline was August 17.’
Berardi had emerged as a top transfer target for the Old Lady, but Sassuolo have now decided to take their star off the market.
“There was a principle of negotiation, Juventus had shown their interest and we were open to selling 10 days ago because Domenico was interested in a move,” Carnevali told Gazzetta.
“We’ve never received an official bid,” he continued.
“We were willing to listen to Juventus’ offer knowing that the price was over €30m. We wanted to satisfy Berardi, but we could not ignore our needs. We didn’t want to include any player in the deal because we have already changed a lot. We had already found a replacement.”
According to Gazzetta, the replacement identified by Carnevali was Dodi Lukebakio of Herta Berlin. The Neroverdi director continued the interview by revealing the deadline for Berardi’s transfer to Juventus, which has now expired.
“The deadline was August 17 because after that date we could no longer sign his replacement,” he said.
“I was clear with Cristiano Giuntoli and the player’s entourage, saying that we could not have gone beyond that date.
“I am really annoyed because we’ve always been available. We always try to satisfy our players and share our decisions with them and it would have been better to speak with Sassuolo before than with Berardi’s agents.”
Sassuolo make their 2023-24 Serie A debut on Sunday against Atalanta, but Berardi won’t be available.
“Domenico has been training separately from the team for 10 days because he was destined to leave,” revealed Carnevali.
“He won’t play against Atalanta, but now Sassuolo must think about our needs. The league starts tomorrow for us and there is no more time to replace him adequately.”
The Italian winger extended his contract with Sassuolo a year ago and his current deal at the Mapei Stadium runs out in June 2027.
Sky Sport Italia claims Berardi is pushing to join Juventus and is not expected to play the first three Serie A games of the season for Sassuolo, but Carnevali seems unwilling to change his mind.
“The conditions to leave are no longer there. Berardi is a smart guy and will understand it. I am sorry but we had to take this decision.”