Two more Portuguese players were announced by Serie A clubs over the last 24 hours, as Francisco Conceição joined Juventus from FC Porto and Rui Patrício signed with Atalanta on a free transfer.
Chico Conceição will earn Porto an initial €7m fee for his one-year loan at Juve, which could rise to €10m depending on add-ons, after which the Bianconeri will likely have an option to make the deal permanent. Patrício had been without a club since leaving Roma at the end of last season.
“Juventus Football Club S.p.A. announces that an agreement with FC Porto for the temporary acquisition, until 30 June 2025, of the registration rights of the player Francisco Fernandes de Conceição has been finalized for a consideration of €7 million; this consideration may be increased up to a maximum of €3 million over the duration of the player’s contract, upon the achievement of further performance objectives,” read the Juventus statement on Tuesday.
According to reports, Juve may have priority in the negotiation of a permanent Conceição transfer for a fee of around €20m, which would bring the total value of the transaction to around €30m. Juventus have been highly active in the transfer market this summer, with Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners on the verge of completing his move from Atalanta in a projected €57m deal.
Under new manager Thiago Motta, Juve have also spent big on acquiring Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa for €50m, as well as the likes of Khéphren Thuram (Nice) for €20m, Juan Cabal (Verona) for €12m and Nicolás González (Fiorentina) for €8.4m. In addition, Pierre Kalulu has been drafted in on-loan from AC Milan and goalkeeper Michele de Gregorio has arrived from Monza.
Word from Conceição Senior
“I expect great things here at Juventus, at a club where ambition is at its highest, the desire to win titles is very strong and I want to win titles for Juventus, because the club demands that,” Chico said.
“To know that a club like Juventus is interested in me and wanted to count on me, of course it’s a great source of pride and I’m very happy. I just want to quickly help Juventus achieve its goals.
“My father? He told me that the Italian league at the time was top, very strong, with the best players in the world and that at the moment it continues to be a competitive, attractive league, with great players. A league that all players dream of playing in and I also have that ambition and that dream of playing in Serie A for Juventus.”
Another club who have been busy in the market is Atalanta, who secured their 10th signing of the summer with the announcement of Rui Patrício on Tuesday. Selecao veteran Patrício, 36, has signed a one-year contract in Bergamo, where he will challenge the much younger Marco Carnesecchi, 24, for the no1 jersey.
Atalanta will be in the Champions League this season and have added numerous players ahead of the campaign, including major deals for Charles De Ketelaere (€27m) from AC Milan, Mateo Retegui (€28m) from Genoa and Raoul Bellanova (€20m) from Torino. Other interesting deals include Ben Godfrey from Everton for €10m, the loan capture of Nicola Zaniolo of Galatasaray and another free transfer – Juan Cuadrado of Juventus, for whom Conceição offers a younger replacement.
By @SeanGillen9
