Juventus have finalized the acquisition of Nicolò Rovella from Genoa for €18M plus hefty €20M possible add-ons in exchange for youngsters Manolo Portanova – who has been evaluated €10M and will join the Grifone immediately – and Elia Petrelli (€8M), who will be re-routed to Reggina. Rovella has been loaned back to the Rossoblù until June 2022.
The 19-year-old midfielder, whose price tag went up compared to previous reports since two players were included in the deal, has featured 11 times in the current season, 9 in Serie A play, after making his debut in the previous one. He was on an expiring contract, but the Bianconeri decided to acquire him directly from Genoa.
A natural deep-lying playmaker and well-known for his set piece prowess, Rovella has generally been used as box-to-box under Rolando Maran and Davide Ballardini. It is the same kind of move Juventus put together two years ago with Cristian Romero, who however was sold to Atalanta before making his Juventus debut.
The 20-year-old Manolo Portanova was poached from Lazio in 2017 and, after being an integral part of the U-23 squad for some time, has made two appearances with the first team in this campaign and has constantly been a bench option. Petrelli, who is 19, has been at Juventus since 2016 and has been a regular in Serie C with the U-23 squad this season, notching 5 goals and 4 assists in 15 appearances.