Juventus to sign Turkish defender for €15m

The talented centre-back will make the move to Turin after Juventus’ decision to sign the player.

Italian football champions Juventus have struck a deal with Serie A minnows Sassuolo for the transfer of Turkish centre-back Merih Demiral, according to reports.

Despite interest from Spanish heavyweights Atletico Madrid who have offered €25 million for player’s transfer, Juventus will complete the deal thanks to their first choice option as per their agreement.

The Serie A champions will pay Sassuolo €15 million for the 21-year-old.

The Kocaeli-born defender is a Fenerbahce academy graduate but left for Portugal’s AC Alcanenese in July 2016 on a free transfer after being overlooked by the club’s management at the time.

After impressing with Alcanenense, Sporting CP snapped up the talented youngster for €180,000 where he featured mainly in the club’s reserve side.

His performances in Portugal did not go unnoticed as Alanyaspor brought the defender back to Turkey in August 2018 on an initial loan deal.

In the January transfer window of the same season, Alanyaspor made his transfer permanent for €1.35 million after his 16 appearances in the first half of the season impressed the club’s board.

On the final day of the January transfer window, Demiral was loaned out to Sassuolo where he remained for the remainder of the season and established himself as a regular first-team player, making 14 appearances and scoring 2 goals.

In June, the Italian club activated the transfer fee clause agreed to by the two clubs and signed him permanently for €7 million.