Loïs Openda Reflects on Juventus Journey: No Regrets

Loïs Openda has no regrets about his Juventus adventure. Even if it yielded just one goal, a loan move, and a lot of questions.

Speaking to L’Equipe about his turbulent 2025-26 season in Turin, the Belgium international was clear: the move from RB Leipzig to the Allianz Stadium “wasn’t a mistake.” It just never truly belonged to his game.

Now 26 and on loan at Lyon, where he has two goals in eight appearances, Openda looked back at a year that never quite clicked.

“I had good chemistry with David”

Openda arrived in Serie A with a clear plan in mind, one he says had been carefully laid out before he signed.

“I spoke with Damien Comolli, who was then the club director, and he explained how he intended to use me in a difficult league,” he said. The idea, on paper, suited his strengths: attack space, run in behind, stretch defences.

Reality was different.

“In Italy, the team that really exploits depth is Inter. Roma are only just starting to understand it,” Openda noted, pointing to a league that often prefers control to chaos, feet to space.

At Juventus, competition was fierce and the system unforgiving for his profile.

“The coach wanted me, but Vlahovic and David were already playing in my position,” he continued. “I had good chemistry with David, but the team wasn’t used to playing with a player who runs in behind, and Vlahovic tended to keep the ball to himself.”

The names are heavyweights: Dusan Vlahovic, Jonathan David. For a forward who thrives on vertical passes and quick breaks, sharing a front line with ball-to-feet strikers in a possession-focused side left him stranded between ideas.

One goal, 34 games, and a hard decision

Under Igor Tudor and then Luciano Spalletti, Openda never found his rhythm. The numbers tell the story starkly: one goal in 34 appearances across all competitions.

“I tried to get my chance, and sometimes I did,” he said. “But towards the end of the season, I realised that to play, I had to leave.”

It wasn’t a dressing-room explosion or a public fallout. Just a slow, clear understanding that his profile and Juventus’ habits were pulling in different directions.

So he moved. Lyon stepped in for the 2026-27 campaign, paying €3.5m for a loan deal with no option to buy. A short-term bet for the French club, a reset button for the player.

No regrets about Juventus

Despite the struggles, Openda refuses to frame the Juventus chapter as a failure.

“It wasn’t a mistake, and it allowed me to work on aspects I hadn’t considered,” he insisted. “I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I’m sure that in other circumstances, it would have gone better.”

That line matters. He doesn’t blame the club, the league, or the coaches. He talks about context, about timing, about a team not wired to play to his strengths.

Now the stage is Lyon, not Turin. The loan has no purchase option, so his future remains open, his next permanent home undecided. What he does this season in France will go a long way to deciding whether the Juventus spell becomes a brief detour in a rising career—or the moment that permanently changes its path.