
Juventus have changed direction and, after weeks of negotiations, have secured a new starting goalkeeper for next season. Guglielmo Vicario will soon become a black and white player, a player who has been followed for a long time, but who only this week found the right opportunity to return to Italy after his adventure at Tottenham. All traces pointed to the Premier League, but in the end the Italian has defeated Dibu Martinez, who for a long time was close to wearing the black and white shirt, until the last hours.
The young goalkeeper arrived in Turin on a free loan with an option to buy, without obligation, set at 8 million euros plus 2 million in bonuses, favorable conditions for the club, which finally found the right compromise after negotiations with the Japanese Suzuki broke down. The choice of the Italian Vicario was not dictated only by economic convenience, but also by a factor that greatly penalized the current Aston Villa goalkeeper, who is still looking for a new team.
Why Vicario and not Martinez?
Aston Villa were demanding no less than 15 million euros to release their goalkeeper, but this was not the biggest obstacle for Juventus, who in the end decided to focus on the former Empoli goalkeeper, returning after his experience in England. Dibu Martinez had already reached a preliminary agreement with the black and white leaders, but this was not enough to make him the final choice, because in his case there are many doubts about his physical condition. During the warm-up before the Europa League final, he broke the ring finger of his right hand and played injured throughout the World Cup with Argentina, reaching the final.
The goalkeeper manages to be on the field regularly, but Juventus' medical staff has not received many guarantees regarding his condition. An operation on the finger to solve the problem is not ruled out and the Bianconeri wanted to avoid losing their starting goalkeeper for three or four months in the middle of the championship, a hypothesis that would complicate the situation for the technician Spalletti. For this reason, within a few hours they decided to return to Vicario, more reliable from this point of view.