Pierre Kalulu hasn’t needed much time to win over Thiago Motta and earn a significant role in the back at Juventus. He has started in the past three matches, either as a right-back or in the center. Federico Gatti wasn’t 100 percent for the Napoli game. He has quickly supplanted Danilo in the depth chart, who’s a candidate to play in those roles as well.
According to TuttoSport, the Bianconeri got the Frenchman on an initial loan from Milan mostly out of caution because of his recent injury history. Their plan has always been to sign him permanently. They elected not to splurge in the back after missing out on Riccardo Calafiori and Jean-Clair Todibo. They kept their powders dry for the Teun Koopmeiners coup.
If Kalulu stays healthy for most of the campaign, Juventus will activate their €14M option to make the transfer permanent. The Rossoneri already received €3.3M last summer. The deal envisages €3M add-ons and a 10 percent future clause.
In the meantime, Todibo is having a hard time finding minutes at West Ham. He came off the bench late in the first two Premier League rounds and has been unused in the ensuing three.
Our Take on Juventus and Kalulu
It was a serendipitous deal not only for his early showings, as he’s always been solid when in form, but because they underestimated that they needed a right-back more than a center-back. Gatti might not be a perfect fit for Motta’s style as he’s not great with the ball on his feet, but that’s not the main job of a defender after all.
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