Fiorentina's Loan Bid for Juventus Full-Back Joao Mario

Fiorentina have made their move. According to reports on Saturday, the Viola have submitted a formal offer to Juventus for full-back Joao Mario, a player who does not feature in Luciano Spalletti’s plans for the 2026-27 season.

The proposal on the table is a season-long loan with an option to buy, with the total package for the permanent transfer set in the €8m-€9m range, as reported by Gianluca Di Marzio. Talks are described as advanced enough that the deal could be wrapped up as early as next week, underlining Fiorentina’s urgency to reshape their flanks before the new campaign.

It marks a swift turn in Joao Mario’s Italian adventure. Juventus signed the Portuguese defender from Porto for €12.6m in the previous summer window, seeing him as a long-term option at full-back. Instead, his first year in Turin never really caught fire. He made just 10 Serie A appearances for the Bianconeri before being moved on in January.

The solution then was a loan to Bologna, part of a swap arrangement that sent Emil Holm in the opposite direction. Neither club was convinced enough to trigger a permanent transfer at the end of those deals, leaving Joao Mario back in Turin this summer, working through pre-season while his future hung in the balance.

Now Fiorentina are ready to offer a way out and a fresh platform. For Juventus, it is a chance to move on a player who has slipped down the pecking order under Spalletti and to edge closer to balancing the books on last year’s investment. For the defender, it could be the reset he needs in Serie A — and the kind of move that decides whether his Italian chapter fades out quietly or bursts back into life in Florence.