Reports: Juventus, Nice agree to deal for Khéphren Thuram

Reports: Juventus, Nice agree to deal for Khéphren Thuram

All of about a week after securing his first midfield signing of the summer, Cristiano Giuntoli hasn’t waited around long to double that total.

And with a familiar last name to boot.

According to multiple reports out of Italy, Juventus and Nice have closed the deal for 23-year-old midfielder Khéphren Thuram. Juventus will reportedly pay €20 million plus bonuses — likely around €4-5 million — to Nice for Thuram, who has been pushing for a move to Turin while Giuntoli opened negotiations. Thuram, currently on national team duty with France at the Euros, entered the summer with just one more year left on his current contract with the French side — something that allowed Juve to get him for a price that would have been much, much more if he had more time remaining on his contract.

Thuram will sign a contract through 2029 with Juventus that will reportedly pay him €2.5 million net per season. Considering he is currently playing at the Euros, it is unknown when he will undergo his medical exams.

So, in the span of a couple of weeks, Giuntoli has secured the services of Douglas Luiz and Thuram, the son of former Juventus defender Lilian Thuram. Knowing the fact that Juve’s midfield has been ineffective for years, getting two very good players either officially signed or a deal agreed to before preseason training begins is quite the feat for Giuntoli, who can actually do the business in which he wants this summer as compared to 12 months ago when he was still waiting to leave Napoli.

(And things may now switch over to negotiations for Teun Koopmeiners, too ...)

Thuram, who has been at Nice since the 2019-20 season, has been one of the best young midfielders in Ligue 1 over the last three years. So much so that, according to Opta, led all Nice players with “the most dribbles completed (113), the most chances created (89) and the most shots ending carries (29).” Considering just how much Juve’s midfield has struggled to do those types of things, he will certainly be a welcome addition to Thiago Motta’s new-look side.

And for the price that is much lower than what somebody of his quality would go for if he didn’t have a year left on his contract, Thuram certainly looks like a pretty good piece of business done by Giuntoli.