Juventus Steal a Player from Under the Nose of Roma | OneFootball

Just as Roma were ready to welcome Zeki Celik back from the World Cup, a couple of weeks after his contract had formally expired, Juventus swooped in, came to terms, and quickly announced his arrival on Thursday night.

According to Corriere dello Sport, the agreement with the Giallorossi was 100 percent complete and just needed to be formalized. Instead, he secretly haggled a slightly better deal with the Old Lady and decided to go there instead.

Juventus had Celik on their shortlist of free-agent targets for a while, but after some early problems in the talks, he seemed poised to stay at Roma. Their coach, in particular, wanted continuity. His camp initially asked for €4M, which would have made him one of their highest-paid players. Eventually, an accord was found at €3/3.2M per year, until the late U-turn.

The Turk departs the Eternal City after four seasons and has been a linchpin for the past two. He has totaled 151 appearances, scoring 2 and logging 10 assists. The Giallorossi were already plotting a major signing on the wing and to move Wesley back on the right flank. The unexpected exit will force them to do more.

Our Take on Juventus, Roma, and Celik

The fact that the Bianconeri recently hired their rivals’ director, Frederic Massara, adds some spice. It’s a solid get for them, considering they are cash-strapped, Luciano Spalletti wants veterans, and they had a hole in his role. Other than looking a bit amateurish for how things unfolded, the Giallorossi won’t be pulling their hair out, though. He was useful and reliable, but their formation will be less lopsided with a more offensively gifted contributor at the position.