Fiorentina Pursues Joao Mario as Juventus Exit Looms

Fiorentina are closing in on a deal for Joao Mario, sensing an opportunity where Juventus have clearly run out of patience.

The Viola are in advanced talks to take the Portuguese full-back on loan from Juve with an option to buy, in a package expected to reach around €8-9m by the end of the season, according to Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio. It would draw a line under a Turin adventure that never really started.

Signed from FC Porto for €12m in the summer of 2025, Joao Mario arrived at Juventus as a modern, energetic full-back meant to grow into a long-term solution. Instead, his value has gone in the opposite direction. Porto are due 10 per cent of any future profit on a sale, but with Juve set to accept a figure below the original fee, that clause becomes meaningless. There is no profit to share.

His numbers in black and white tell the story. Just 13 appearances for Juventus, with a single assist, before the club moved him on in January to Bologna as part of the deal that took Emil Holm to Turin. The change of scenery helped, but only up to a point. Joao Mario featured 15 times for Bologna and scored twice, yet neither side pushed to make the swap permanent.

So he returned to Turin this summer, but not to a fresh start. The message from Juventus has been blunt: he has no future there.

Fiorentina are ready to offer one.

For the Tuscan club, this is a calculated move. A 26-year-old international, still in his prime years, available on a relatively low-risk formula: loan now, decision later. If he clicks in Serie A in Florence, they can keep him for a fee that undercuts what Juventus paid. If not, they walk away at the end of the season.

For Joao Mario, it is more than another loan. It is a chance to prove that the player Porto developed and Juventus once trusted with a sizeable investment is still in there. At this stage of his career, he cannot afford another season on the margins.