The Brazilian has not convinced either Nottingham Forest or Aston Villa, while Simeone likes the winger but has not reached the mandatory appearances for redemption: there is room for negotiation, but…
Not just Nico Gonzalez’s 32 million. For Juve, even the 25 of Douglas Luiz’s possible redemption will certainly now fade away. Different situations, although perhaps predictable for a few months now, but which deprive Juve of a total treasure of almost 60 million that can be reinvested in the market in the summer.
Nico Gonzalez and Atletico’s failure to redeem himself
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Nico Gonzalez’s situation has been clear for some time: Atletico considered the 32 million agreed last September for the conditional redemption of the Argentine’s card to be too much, but the muscle injury suffered during the week, which will force him to be out of action for at least 3 weeks, has taken care of saving everyone from the embarrassment of not fielding the player in at least 2 of the last remaining La Liga matches (so that he doesn’t reach the minimum number of 21 45′ appearances). Nico Gonzalez’s season, however, net of three stops due to physical problems, was positive: almost 2,000 minutes played, 21 overall appearances between the league, Champions League and Copa del Rey (the latter two competitions not useful for the purposes of the mandatory redemption) and 5 goals. The feeling with Simeone is strong and Atletico Madrid will sit down with Juve in the summer to try to lower the figure to around 20 million, the price at which the Argentine is more or less currently priced. Otherwise, the Bianconeri would have two options: try to start a negotiation with another club, perhaps also taking advantage of the World Cup showcase, or retain the winger and make him available to Spalletti, who has always respected him and to whom he would guarantee flexibility, experience and character.
douglas luiz, double failure
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The situation of Douglas Luiz, however, will be much more complicated to resolve. Unlike Nico, in fact, the Brazilian totally failed last season at Juve (just 6 appearances as a starter and a total of 877 minutes, without goals or assists) and, in the last year, he was rejected twice. First from Nottingham Forest, where he moved on loan with a conditional right in the summer (he should have played 15 games of at least 45 minutes), then from Aston Villa, where he tried to relaunch himself in January. The “Garibaldi” had already made it clear in the middle of the season that they did not want to trigger the conditions for the obligation to buy, while the Villans (who signed a contract with only the right to buy) used him as a starter only in the period of numerical emergency in midfield, relegating him to the bench as soon as Emery’s squad became “long” again. And, not surprisingly, his last appearance as a starter dates back to a month and a half ago: March 19, in the Europa League against Lille. For the rest, eighty-eight minutes on the pitch out of a possible 720 minutes. Douglas will be a big problem for Juve in the summer: still on the books for almost 30 million and tied to the Bianconeri until 2029 with a salary of 5 million net (9.25 gross), he will represent a real ballast for the market. And finding a club willing to relaunch him won’t be easy at all…
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