The Dusan Vlahovic deal was the most secret of the entire January transfer window. A complicated, strategic negotiation, full of issues for many clubs and which has become a brilliant solution for Juventus.
But this story Dusan Vlahovic starts from afar: his contract with Fiorentina was expiring in June 2023, the club begins talks to sign a longer agreement but the green light does not arrive from the player during last summer.
That's why Fiorentina listen to the proposals of the other clubs: Tottenham are interested but the best offer is from Atletico Madrid, putting on the table an official bid for € 50 million guaranteed plus € 10 million add-ons and a percentage on the future resale of the Serbian striker.
Dusan doesn't even want to listen, he doesn't answer and doesn't accept; so Fiorentina do not even begin to negotiate between clubs.
Last September, Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso tried to change the situation: the club offered Dusan Vlahovic a five-year contract worth over € 5 million net per season.
It would officially be the best contract in Fiorentina's history, even better so than legends like Gabriel Batistuta, Rui Costa or Roberto Baggio had: no one has earned as much as Vlahovic would earn with this potential deal.
But Dusan and his agents refuse, they have no intention of talking about it. When in November it appears that a deal is close for € 5 million a year and € 2 million to the agents, the demand suddenly rises to € 8 million to the player and € 6 million to the agents.
In addition, a 10% future resale has been asked too by the agents. Fiorentina refuse, the break is total and since the beginning of December, Arsenal begin to try with great ambition a negotiation to buy Vlahovic in January: the club's board has an excellent relationship with Fiorentina, the deal for Lucas Torreira in the summer has built a strong very good dialogue between the two clubs.
The problem for Arsenal is always the same: Dusan Vlahovic's agents do not even answer the calls and proposals from the Gunners, just as happened in the past with other clubs.
There is no intention of negotiating, a silence on the Vlahovic side that will also last during the first weeks of January: Arsenal promise Fiorentina €65 million more add-ons to have Dusan immediately, the two clubs practically agree verbally but they have to wait for the player and his decisions.
Zero answers, until the Gunners pull back from the negotiation as they did for Manuel Locatelli in the summer: you cannot chase a player forever, Vlahovic and his silence nullify the hopes of Arsenal and also a potential attempt by other clubs such as Tottenham, more oriented on the summer than on a transfer for January.
Fiorentina managers are starting to get very nervous because there is the fear of losing Dusan as a free agent next January 2023, it would be a disaster for the club's balance.
And it was precisely in this "fear" that Juventus entered the race: for months Juventus had already obtained information on Vlahovic and the costs of a potential negotiation.
But when the Serbian striker finally turned down Arsenal and other solutions in the Premier League, Juventus contacted Fiorentina for an official offer that the board had been preparing in great secrecy since the beginning of January.
This is why it was a much faster deal than expected: Juventus received guarantees on the probable sale of Dejan Kulusevski, so president Andrea Agnelli gave the green light to an initial offer of € 65 million.
The negotiation is rapid, because Fiorentina asks for € 80 million and Juventus conclude the agreement for € 75 million guaranteed plus € 5 million in add ons. In one night, Juventus and Fiorentina reach a full agreement for Dusan.
And there is a man behind this deal: Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus manager, had been insisting for weeks on making an attempt for Vlahovic.
He sees Vlahovic as the forward of the present and the future, a statement of return to the top level for the club. That's why Juventus wasted no time.
The direct negotiation with Vlahovic is not complicated for the Bianconeri: while Dusan did not intend to speak to Arsenal or other clubs, the Serbian striker and his agents give immediate availability to Juventus.
Those who are very close to Vlahovic say that ever since he started playing football as a child, he dreamed of Juve as the ideal club for such an important step.
For this he immediately accepted a contract of € 7 million net per season for five years, until 2026. The negotiation continued for 24 hours on the commissions to the agents who will receive € 10.6 million as part of the deal.
The signing of the contract completed an operation that for Juventus was like a spy story: the hope in the rejection of the Premier League, then jumping in the race with an offer at the right time. This is the crazy story of Vlahovic, the new Juventus star.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 23rd February 2022
