Fiorentina Pursue Joao Mario from Juventus with Loan-and-Buy Proposal

Fiorentina have made their first serious move of the summer at full-back, submitting a formal offer to Juventus for Joao Mario in a deal that underlines how quickly his status in Turin has changed.

The Viola have tabled a proposal built around a season-long loan with an option to buy, with the final fee expected to fall between €8m and €9m, according to the latest indications from Gianluca Di Marzio. Both clubs are understood to be working on a structure that could be wrapped up within days rather than weeks, a sign that all parties are open to a swift resolution.

For Juventus, it would mark the end of a short and stuttering spell. Joao Mario arrived from Porto only last summer for €12.6m, billed as a modern, aggressive full-back who could grow into a long-term solution on the flank. Instead, he found minutes hard to come by.

He managed just 10 Serie A appearances in his debut campaign for the Bianconeri before being moved on in January to Bologna, in a loan arrangement that sent Emil Holm the other way. That double switch was viewed as an audition on both sides. Neither club was convinced enough to pull the trigger on a permanent transfer.

So Joao Mario returned to Turin for pre-season, back on the training pitch, back in the photographs, but not in Luciano Spalletti’s plans for the 2026-27 campaign. His path is blocked, his role unclear, and Juventus are now ready to cash in at the right price.

Fiorentina see opportunity where others see surplus.

A loan with an option to buy limits their risk and gives them a full season to judge whether the 26-year-old can rediscover the form that first drew Juventus across the border to Porto. For Joao Mario, it offers what he has lacked for two years: the chance to settle, start regularly and prove he belongs at the sharp end of Serie A.

If the deal goes through as expected this week, his next step will not be a quiet reset. It will be a test of whether a once highly rated full-back can turn a career of short stops into something more permanent in Florence.