Juventus Targets Jhon Lucumí as Defender Rejects Premier League Offers

Juventus have moved to the front of the queue for Jhon Lucumí, edging towards a deal for the Bologna centre-back after the player made it clear where he wants to go.

The Colombian has given the Bianconeri his word. According to reports in Italy, Lucumí has placed Juventus at the top of his wishlist despite concrete interest from Nottingham Forest and initial enquiries from Chelsea and Manchester United. When the offers arrived from England, he listened. He still chose Turin.

The agreement in principle is already there on the player’s side: a five-year contract worth €2.5 million per season plus bonuses. Forest, for their part, were ready to pay around €1 million more net each year, a sizeable difference over the life of the deal. Lucumí has walked away from that to chase something else – a bigger stage, European nights, and continuity in Serie A.

For him, the badge and the platform matter more than the pay rise.

Spalletti’s priority, Bologna’s problem

The ball now sits firmly in Bologna’s half.

Luciano Spalletti, impressed by Lucumí’s commanding World Cup performances – including the night he effectively shut down Cristiano Ronaldo – has made the defender a priority target. Juventus have opened talks with the Rossoblù and are pushing to turn the player’s commitment into a completed transfer.

Bologna know what they have. They value Lucumí at a minimum of €25 million after his €28 million release clause expired in mid-July. That clause gave them leverage; its expiry has changed the game. With only 10 months left on his contract, their room to manoeuvre is shrinking fast.

Hold out too hard and they risk losing their defensive leader for nothing next summer. Drop the price too quickly and they surrender a cornerstone of Thiago Motta’s old project without full compensation.

Juventus, armed with the player’s clear preference and Spalletti’s insistence, will try to exploit that tension. Bologna must now decide: cash in on a centre-back at the peak of his value, or gamble on one more season and the hope he does not walk away for free.