Juventus are set to sign Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic after activating the player’s £30 million release clause, Roma’s director Mauro Baldissoni announced on Friday.
Pjanic is expected to undergo a medical next week before signing on the dotted lines to become a Juventus player and end his five-year stint at the Giallorossi club.
The 26-year-old midfielder, who is well known for often scoring spectacular goals, arrived in the Italian capital from Lyon in a €11 million move in 2011.
Following reports in Italy, club director Baldissoni was forced to go public and deny rumours that Roma contacted their Serie A rivals to arrange the transfer before reading out a letter he had received from Pjanic, requesting for an immediate transfer.
“This is the letter AS Roma received ‘I here with wish to inform you of my intention to exercise my right to be transferred to another club, as per our previous agreements.
Baldissoni added, “ ‘I also wish to inform you that I will settle the 20% of the transfer fee that is due to me directly with the club purchasing my contract, which I can inform you is Juventus Football Club. I thank you and ask you to make contact in order to complete the necessary contractual formalities. Yours sincerely, Miralem Pjanic.’ ”
Pjanic was subject of intense transfer speculation from a host of European clubs this summer. Barcelona were reportedly keen to sign the Bosnian midfielder to bolster their midfield options while several Premier League clubs were said to be interested as well.
Since his move from Ligue 1 five years ago, Pjanic has established himself as one of the best midfielders in Serie A and is expected to straightly burst into Italian champions’ starting line up as a direct replacement for French midfielder Paul Pogba, who is likely to leave the Turin club this summer with Man United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG, all vying for the player’s services.
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