Juventus have announced that Santos’ teenager Kaio Jorge has signed a long-term contract until 2026 in a deal that is believed to be worth around 3 million euros plus surcharges.
Kaio, who will not turn 20 until January, has come from the same Santos youth system that produced Neymar. He made his senior debut in 2018, became one of the youngest players in Santos history and established himself as a regular in 2020.
The Brazilian forward has been given Juve’s jersey number 21, previously known by Zinedine Zidane, Andrea Pirlo and Lilian Thuram, and most recently worn by Gonzalo Higuain.
Kaio has represented Brazil at junior international level and was part of the squad that won the World Cup in 17 in 2019 and did five times in the tournament.
It has been reported that Juve will initially pay Santos € 1.5 million for Kaio, followed by a second payment of an additional € 1.5 million next summer. The deal is also believed to include an additional € 1 million in bonuses depending on his performance for the Serie A club.
Kaio is so far Juve’s only new first team arrival in an otherwise quiet summer. The only major outgoing transfer has forced Douglas Costa to return from a loan spell at Bayern Munich and immediately go out on loan again to join Gremio back in his native Brazil, although a deal for Sassuolo Manuel Locatelli is imminent.
Despite minimal staff changes, recurring head coach Massimiliano Allegri has been tasked with taking back the Serie A title to Turin after Juve dropped to fourth last season and barely escaped the disaster of missing Champions League football.
Juve start their league campaign 2021/22 away at Udinese on August 22 but won a statement with 3-1 against Atalanta in a friendly last weekend.
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