Since the so-called golden era concluded, Juventus have made a fair share of strange decisions in the market. One also got them a hefty points deduction but on the pitch, that player did somehow deliver.
However, the same can’t really be said for Lois Openda, who is now technically a Juventus player. This happened at the weekend, as Genoa beat Sassuolo, as the Neroverdi later slipped down to 11th in the table. For Juve, it meant that they will not finish below tenth in Serie A.
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Curiously, that is what the agreement between the Bianconeri and RB Leipzig said in the summer. Openda joined on a loan and the Old Lady had an obligation to buy if they finished over tenth in the table.
Now, the Belgian is very much their own problem and a problem that they created. An initial loan fee of €3.3m was paid in the summer and Openda will join Juve permanently for a fee €40m and add-ons can take it a package worth €46m too.
Now, that ideally doesn’t seem much. When one looks at how finances operate in Serie A though, it is utterly shocking. Openda, still only 26, has just one Serie A goal. In the Champions League, he played 320 minutes and had one goal, failing to ever make a mark.
In the league, he hasn’t come off the bench in each of the last four games, with his last appearance coming against Roma, as he played just a solitary minute. Under Luciano Spalletti, the attacker has seemed largely useless, appearing off the pace and rarely fitting into the system. Even under Igor Tudor, he could never quite find his best position and wasn’t amongst the goals.
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His output and the price Juve are paying for him makes the deal a collosal failure. Of course, the trademark instability at the Old Lady has a role to play in it. At the same time, many current Juve players have often been given the ‘failed signing’ tag. This includes Teun Koopmeiners, Jonathan David or even someone like Emil Holm (who was excellent at the weekend). They have added some value to the side when Openda. But now, they will face the tall task of finding a suitor for him after the season that he has had.
It is easy to criticise the player now too. The truth is Openda was on the decline towards his last season at Leipzig. He scored nine Bundesliga goals last season, which was a farcry from the previous campaigns, when he crossed the 20-goal mark. A deal for him would’ve felt opportunistic but it is easy to question the though process in this case.
Juve’s usual hope is the Premier League but in this case, it does appear difficult. The fact that the attacker is still at a decent age can help but only to a certain extent.
Kaustubh Pandey I GIFN
