Matuidi completes Juventus move
PARIS, France (AP): FRANCE MIDFIELDER Blaise Matuidi completed his move from Paris Saint-Germain to Juventus yesterday.
Matuidi arrived in Turin for a medical on Wednesday, but the move finally went through yesterday, PSG said in a statement.
No financial details were given, but Juventus will reportedly pay PSG €20 million plus bonuses for the player, who had a year left on his contract. PSG did not say how long Matuidi’s contract is with the Italian champions.
The French club, runner-up to Monaco last year, is trying to balance the books after buying Neymar for €222 million and could not afford to lose Matuidi on a free transfer.
Matuidi scored 22 goals in 295 games for PSG in all competitions after joining from Saint-Etienne in 2011.
After a difficult first season, he quickly became an integral part of the team for successive managers, Carlo Ancelotti and Laurent Blanc.
He flourished from a largely defensive midfielder to a robust, tireless runner with an eye for goal and an enormous workrate.
Overcoming some technical deficiencies in his game, Matuidi gradually earned himself a place in the France lineup and became a key player at the 2014 World Cup and last year’s European Championship. He has made 58 appearances for France, scoring eight times.
At the beginning of last season, after Blanc was fired and replaced by Unai Emery, Matuidi expressed a desire to leave PSG and wanted to join Juventus. But the club blocked his move, considering him too important to leave.
In all, Matuidi won four league titles, three French Cups and four League Cups with PSG.