Juventus have acquired Joao Cancelo from Valencia for 40M, the club announced on. The 24-year-old right back has agreed to a five-year contract. He spent the last season on loan at Inter, where he became an integral part of the formation in the second half of the season, but the Nerazzurri, which have to deal with the constraints of the Financial Fair Play, opted not to pick up the €35M option to buy him permanently.
The Portuguese’s first year in Italy started slowly, due to an early MCL sprain and a slow adaptation to the new league and to Luciano Spalletti’s tactics. However, after he managed to get into the starting lineup in late December, he never relinquished his spot. A very elegant and technical player, he is a playmaker down the flank. He ended up playing 29 times, providing four assists and scoring once.
The Old Lady was mildly linked to him a year ago, but did not pull the trigger because of some concerns about his defensive abilities since at Valencia he often played as right winger. That changed after seeing him in action: although he still needs improvement in that phase, his offensive contribution largely makes up for any deficiencies.
After negotiating for a couple of weeks, the Bianconeri reached agreement on a permanent deal, since the Taronges needed to bring in cash for FFP-related reasons. He leaves La Liga after collecting 91 appearances in three seasons. Juventus needed a right back after they let Stephan Lichtsteiner go and preferred an offensive-minded one to alternate with Mattia De Sciglio, a type of player they had not been able to find last summer after the sudden departure of Dani Alves. They also deployed Juan Cuadrado a couple of times in that position last season.
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