Karim Adeyemi was a very concrete target for Juventus last summer, but Borussia Dortmund resisted. The player had given some overtures to the Bianconeri but eventually backtracked and obviously stayed put.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Cristiano Giuntoli had a few contacts, and perhaps even a meeting, with the attacker’s father, even though the star came out to deny it. He was open to transferring, but the talks with the German team didn’t have legs.
Borussia Dortmund were unwilling to budge on Adeyemi to the point that they threatened to report Juventus for reaching out to the player first. The Old Lady had to do some diplomatic work to avoid that and stood down in their pursuit.
The German ace would have been more expensive than Nicolas Gonzalez and they might not have been able to use the formula of a loan with an obligation to buy, so their other big moves might have been affected if they were successful.
The 22-year-old has been unbothered by the seesawing summer and has tallied 5 goals and 3 assists so far thanks to hat-trick in the Champions League, but he also just suffered a hamstring injury.
Our Take on Juventus and Adeyemi
It was one of the biggest sliding-door moments for them last summer. They would have brought in a top player, but splurging on him might have affected their budget for Teun Koopmeiners. Plus, he’s better centrally than on the wing, where they would have deployed him regularly. Still, besides his high-end production and skill-set, he would have been very helpful in a time when they don’t have a deputy striker.
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