The economic slowdown apparently hasn’t crippled Juventus’ team-building efforts.
Juventus has agreed to sign Barcelona midfielder Arthur this summer in a transfer worth €75 million (£72.5 million/$85 million), according to Sky Sports Italia. Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri hopes to rebuild his midfield around Arthur, who isn’t one of Barcelona’s guaranteed starters in that key area of the field.
Juventus have agreed a €75M/$85M fee with Barcelona to sign Arthur, according to @SkySports ? pic.twitter.com/4LZYuvGEV3
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 23, 2020
Juventus and Arthur will have to agree to contract terms in order to finalize the deal. Arthur insisted last month he wants to stay with Barcelona, but Juventus reportedly will try to lure him to Turin by offering to increase his salary to €5 million (£4.5 million/$5.6 million) per season. Barcelona likely accepted Juventus’ offer because it is experiencing financial difficulties and will use the money to fund its own transfer spending.
Arthur, 23, joined Barcelona from Brazilian club Gremio in 2018. He helped Barcelona win La Liga (the Spanish league) and the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) in his first season with the club. Barcelona remains in contention for the La Liga and UEFA Champions League titles this season.
Financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is expected to depress the summer transfer window, but that might not be the case among some of the giants, such as Juventus, who seem willing to pay high transfer fees for the right players.
