Vidal in, Melo out at Juventus
Friday, July 22, 2011
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Juventus have signed midfielder Arturo Vidal from Bayer 04 Leverkusen for €10.5m, possibly rising to €12.5m, on a five-year deal while allowing Felipe Melo to join Galatasaray AŞ on loan.
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Juventus have reached an agreement with Bayer 04 Leverkusen to sign Chilean international Arturo Vidal on a five-year deal.
La Vecchia Signora will pay a fee in the region of €10.5m, possibly rising to €12.5m, for the 24-year-old defensive midfielder. Vidal, who began his career in his home country with CSD Colo-Colo before moving to Leverkusen in summer 2007, passed a medical on Friday and will join up with Antonio Conte's side in August.
Capped 34 times by Chile, Vidal scored 15 times in 117 Bundesliga games with ten of those coming last season when Leverkusen finished runners-up and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage. He becomes the Bianconeri's fifth summer recruit after Stephan Lichtsteiner, Reto Ziegler, Andrea Pirlo and Michele Pazienza.
Earlier in the afternoon, Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo, 28, moved to Galatasaray AŞ on a one-year loan with the Turkish club having the option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season for €13m.
