OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Juventus activate buy option, sign Pierre Kalulu from Milan

As the first couple of months of the 2024-25 season played out, Pierre Kalulu was making Juventus’ summer loan signing of the 24-year-old Frenchman look like an absolute steal. After a season of injuries the year before, Kalulu proved to be a bargain for a Juventus defense that desperately needed his versatility.

What made the deal even the better was the fact that Juve had an incredibly affordable buy option, making Kalulu easily one of now-former Chief Football Officer Cristiano Giuntoli’s best acquisitions during his two years in Turin.

On the day Kalulu turned 25, Juventus made the expected transaction an official one.

Juventus announced on Thursday that Kalulu has made his loan deal a permanent one, with the Bianconeri picking up the buy option on the versatile French defender that AC Milan somehow thought was a good idea to put into the transfer last summer. This comes as a surprise to nobody, as Kalulu proved over the course of this past season that he can be an important piece to the puzzle beyond his season-long loan move to Turin. Juventus will pay €14.3 million plus another €3 million in potential bonuses to Milan to sign Kalulu — who is spending his birthday on international duty with France — outright as the summer mercato kicks into gear.

As part of the deal, Kalulu has agreed to a contract through 2029 with Juventus.

Here are the official details of the deal, courtesy of Juventus’ press office:

Turin, 5 June 2025 – Juventus Football Club S.p.A. announces the option right execution for the definitive acquisition of the registration rights of the player Pierre Kazeye Rommel Kalulu Kyatengwa, from AC Milan, for a consideration of €14.3 million, payable in three financial years, with the addition of ancillary costs up to €0.3 million.

Furthermore, bonuses up to a maximum of € 3 million are envisaged upon the achievement of further performance objectives.

Juventus and the player have signed a contract of employment until 30 June 2029.

When Kalulu arrived in Turin, he was viewed as just one of the many central defenders in which Giuntoli tried to sign last summer. Plus there was the added storyline after he arrived in Turin that he was coming off a completely injury-ravaged 2023-24 campaign, which saw him miss over 40 games for a Milan squad that finished in second in Serie A, well behind arch-rivals and Scudetto winners Inter Milan.

But it didn’t take long for Kalulu to show last year was last year and the new season was a new beginning for him personally.

Kalulu appeared in 39 games in all competitions. Due to the early-season injury to Bremer and the lack of depth in defense on the whole, Kalulu had to play a lot of minutes during the first half of the campaign. In total, he started 35 of his 39 appearances and played the fourth-most amount of minutes (3,162) amongst Juventus’ outfield players.

No matter who Juventus’ manager for the 2025-26 season will be, Kalulu’s versatility and consistency will be a huge asset for them. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a Bremer-Kalulu partnership for a longer run of time because of it was so, so good for that six-week stretch before the Brazilian’s knee went kaboom and the run of shutouts quickly became a thing of the past.