Turkish defender Demiral signs for Juventus

Turkey international Merih Demiral has moved to the Italian powerhouse.

Serie A giants Juventus have announced the signing of Turkey defender Merih Demiral from Sassuolo.

The Italian football champions will pay a transfer fee of €18 million over the next four years for Demiral, the club announced in a statement.

Demiral inked a five-year contract with Juventus that will keep him tied to the club until the summer of 2024.

The 21-year-old is a product of Fenerbahce’s academy after which he signed for Portuguese minnows AC Alcanenense in July 2016 on a free transfer.

The promising defender then moved to Sporting CP’s B team for €180,000.

The Turkish international eventually found himself back in Turkey, playing for Alanyaspor on loan during the first half of the 2018-2019 Super Lig season. Alanyaspor made the loan permanent in exchange for €1.35 million in the January transfer window and subsequently loaned him out to Sassuolo, who ended up signing him permanently for €7 million in June 2019 due to his consistent performances.

Demiral is the latest name to come out of Turkey in recent years that has made the switch to a top European side, thereby improving the reputation of Turkish football academies.