When the deal between Juventus and Southampton for Carlos Alcaraz was struck, a few fans around the world may have had to double take at the amount agreed to make the transfer permanent.
Not because the midfielder isn’t potentially worth €50m, but because the Serie A side were never going to pay that much for him due to their finances, and we have almost immediately seen this will be the case.
Corriere dello Sport dedicate an article to the Southampton loanee on Friday, explaining that the player has three months to convince the Italians.
The final day of the season will be May 26th, which is 93 days away, meaning ‘there isn’t much time available’ for him to showcase his abilities in a new environment.
Add to that the €49.5m clause to make the deal permanent and it is likely that ‘negotiations will have to start’ with Southampton to ‘review and soften’ the amount.
This is something Juventus are conscious of, even if they know it’s not an ‘immediate issue’, but time does fly by and the Saints may be reluctant to budge from their stance.
Therefore, talks might have to start sooner rather than later, while Alcaraz will do his best in the meantime to impress Max Allegri and the rest of the Serie A giants, who are also aware that the more they play him, the less they will have to pay Southampton for the loan fee.
In short, with just 93 days left for the midfielder to play as much as possible and complete negotiations over a potential permanent transfer, time isn’t on anyone’s side.
