Fiorentina Pays for Pellegrino After Juve’s Loan Fails

Fiorentina paid €22.5 million for Mateo Pellegrino, the striker Juventus tried to take on a delayed fee. Italy’s summer window shut at 20:00 on 1 September with those July talks already settled.

Parma, Chelsea and Boca wanted money on the table. Florence put it there. Turin, Rome, Milan’s neighbours in Naples, and Inter closed without the players they had named.

The Window’s Final Scoreboard

Seven names sat at the centre of Serie A’s July chatter, and by 1 September each file had an owner, a fee, or a rejection that no longer needed another meeting.

THE JULY NAMES IN SEPTEMBER

Fiorentina’s recorded arrivals for the season total €150.30 million. Pellegrino and Oulai alone are logged at €48.5 million, which is how Florence treated a window other clubs tried to stretch with clauses.

Trabzonspor had asked around €40 million for Oulai. Fiorentina’s early range sat just over €20 million. Sporting director Fabio Paratici closed the midfielder at €26 million from Trabzonspor on 19 July, then went back to Parma for the striker Juventus would not buy outright.

Juventus Tied the Fee to 10th Place

Giovanni Carnevali, the Juventus CEO, sent Parma an official offer in mid-July: a loan with an obligation to buy at €30 million if the Bianconeri finished 10th in Serie A. Parma’s answer was no. The Gialloblu wanted the €30 million at once so they could replace the Argentine in the same session.

Pellegrino, 24, had preferred Turin, and Crystal Palace tried to cut in. None of that moved Parma off a cash sale. Dusan Vlahovic had left Juventus on a free, and the club was working inside a settlement agreement that made large upfront fees painful. The 10th-place bar was sold as easy to hit. Parma treated it as a wait.

PELLEGRINO FROM PARMA TO FLORENCE

1. 12 July 2026: Juventus lodge a loan with a €30 million obligation tied to a 10th-place finish. Parma reject it.
2. 12 August 2026: Fabrizio Romano reports a verbal agreement to sign Mateo Pellegrino for Fiorentina, with a fee over €20 million and the player’s camp on side.
3. 13 August 2026: The move is booked at €22.5 million from Parma, €7.5 million below the Juve obligation, with a contract to 30 June 2031.

At Parma he had played 52 matches, started 44, scored 15 goals and added 2 assists. Paratici paid less than Turin’s headline number, in a form Parma could spend, and the No. 9 Juventus had priced as a delayed buy now trains in Florence.

Why Roma Lost Garnacho to Aston Villa

Roma lost Alejandro Garnacho because Chelsea wanted a permanent sale near €50 million and the Giallorossi would only copy the Malen loan. Aston Villa completed a season-long loan on 23 July with a conditional obligation to buy, the path Tony D’Amico, Roma’s sporting director, had asked for and did not get from Stamford Bridge.

Gianluca Di Marzio described Roma’s own proposal as a €5 million loan with a €35 million option that would become mandatory under conditions. Chelsea, with Xabi Alonso in charge, had kept Garnacho away from pre-season work and held the €50 million line. The earlier chase for Garnacho and Doekhi had already shown that gap.

THE MALEN CLAUSE ROMA WANTED TO COPY

• Loan fee: Roma paid Aston Villa €2 million for Donyell Malen in January.
• Permanent price: The obligation sits at €25 million if it kicks in.
• European bar: It triggers if Roma reach the Champions League or Europa League, not the Conference League.
• Minutes bar: Malen must play at least 50 percent of matches, with only appearances of 35 minutes or more counting.
• Sell-on: Villa keep 10 percent of a future sale.

Villa manager Unai Emery had wanted Garnacho a year earlier, when the winger left Manchester United. Chelsea had paid €46.2 million for him in August 2025. He started 22 matches in his only Stamford Bridge season, 14 of them in the Premier League, and scored 8 goals. A four-year contract is already drawn if Villa’s obligation is met.

Emery said, “We are delighted with Alejandro. He is so talented, young and he showed us his wish to help our project. We are really happy.”

Khalaili Fails the Inter Medical and Joins Palace

Inter had agreed €25 million plus bonuses with Union Saint-Gilloise for Anan Khalaili, a 21-year-old right-sided player lined up to replace Denzel Dumfries, with a contract to 2031 and a salary of €2.2 million. Medical tests were booked. If they failed, Inter had already sounded out Désiré Doué.

They failed. Fabrizio Romano said Khalaili did not pass the medical at Inter, and Crystal Palace completed the deal for £21 million on 14 August. Doué did not arrive either. Inter’s closed list ran through other names.

https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2088128485059424680

Khalaili said after joining Palace, “I’m happy to be here, I’m excited, and I can’t wait to start.” Palace had also tried to intercept Pellegrino in July and left that race empty-handed. The medical that Inter needed to go right handed them the other July target instead.

The Boca Winger Who Never Reached Naples

Napoli had personal terms with Exequiel Zeballos on a deal to 2031 at about €1.4 million a season and sent Boca Juniors a bid of about €10 million. The winger wanted Naples. The club, limited by fair play rules, needed sales before it could register him. Talks were still alive on 25 August, including a possible January move if the summer books would not open.

Boca confirmed a sale to Monza on 1 September, keeping 40 percent of a future transfer, with Zeballos signed through 30 June 2030. On 3 September he landed in Milano to join Monza. The Italy move he had pushed for still happened. It happened one rung below the club that spent July unable to make room.

Lazio’s Free Centre-Back and Rabiot’s Stay

After Mario Gila’s €30 million move to Milan, Lazio needed a centre-back and had to sell before it could spend. Danilho Doekhi, out of contract at Union Berlin, was the free signing that fitted that box. Contact in July became a completed arrival before the 1 September cut-off, the one defensive file in this group that never needed a transfer fee.

Adrien Rabiot never left Milan. Owner Gerry Cardinale blocked a sale that would have helped Napoli, and new coach Ruben Amorim told the Frenchman he was central to a 3-4-2-1. Rabiot, contracted until 2028, later said he had not wanted to walk out after a season outside the Champions League, a stance that fits Milan’s plan to keep senior players rather than recycle them to rivals.

Did I ever think about leaving Milan after Allegri’s departure? No. I’m someone who likes to do things properly. And leaving Milan like that, without being in the Champions League, after the end of the season we had, I didn’t like it.

Adrien Rabiot, AC Milan midfielder

Amorim also used him higher up, the way Roberto De Zerbi had at Marseille. Rabiot started against Juventus on 1 September, the same night the window closed. Milan kept a midfielder. Lazio added a centre-back for nothing. The clubs that spent July designing delayed buys were the ones still looking at empty shirts.

Pellegrino is under contract at Fiorentina until 30 June 2031. On 3 September, Zeballos landed in Milano to start work at Monza, the last of the July names to change dressing rooms.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Shirt Number Does Mateo Pellegrino Wear at Fiorentina?

Pellegrino has been listed in Fiorentina’s squad as No. 32, with the club booking him as a centre-forward through 30 June 2031 after a Parma spell that began when they signed him from Vélez Sarsfield.

How Much Did Trabzonspor Pay Bastia for Christ Inao Oulai?

Trabzonspor signed the Ivory Coast midfielder from Bastia for €9.6 million in 2025, a year before Fiorentina paid €26 million, so the Turkish club more than doubled its money in a single window.

When Was Exequiel Zeballos Due to Become a Free Agent?

His Boca Juniors contract was due to expire in December 2026, which is why Napoli could talk to him from 1 July and why Boca took a Monza deal that kept 40 percent of the next sale rather than wait six months and receive nothing.

How Many Serie A Matches Did Adrien Rabiot Play Last Season?

Rabiot played 29 Serie A matches for Milan last season, with 6 goals and 5 assists, the line that led Cardinale and Amorim to refuse a sale even when Napoli tested the ground.