Nico González is not going back to Turin. What remains slightly less clear is exactly what Atlético Madrid will pay Juventus to make that official, though the two clubs are closing in on a figure somewhere around €25 million.

González arrived at Atlético on loan from Juventus on September 1, 2025, with an obligation-to-buy clause attached. The catch: that obligation was conditional. Specifically, it depended on González hitting a certain number of La Liga appearances. He did not hit it.

How a missed threshold became a bargaining chip

When Juventus structured the loan deal, the obligation-to-buy was pegged at somewhere between €32 million and €35 million. That number assumed González would be a regular starter, logging enough minutes across enough matches to trigger the automatic purchase requirement.

He did not clear that bar. So instead of Atlético being legally obligated to buy him at the higher price, the clubs are now negotiating a voluntary permanent transfer at a significantly reduced figure closer to €24 to €25 million, potentially with performance-related bonuses built in.

González has made his preference clear. He wants to stay in Madrid. That leverage limits Juventus’s ability to hold out for a higher fee, because the alternative is a disgruntled player showing up for pre-season at a club he has already mentally moved on from.

Who is Nico González and why does this matter

Born in 1998, González is 28 years old and has become a key figure under Diego Simeone at Atlético Madrid. Juventus acquired him in 2025 for approximately €28.1 million, a fee that itself came after loan stints involving both Fiorentina and Porto. He arrived in Turin but never quite settled into Thiago Motta’s plans at Juve, which made the loan move to Madrid feel less like a stopgap and more like a fresh start.

For Juventus, the financial math has become awkward. They paid €28.1 million for a player they are now being asked to sell for €25 million or less. Add bonuses and the final figure might eventually claw back toward the original cost, but only if González performs at specific levels post-transfer. That is a meaningful difference from the guaranteed €32 to €35 million obligation that was supposed to be baked into the original loan agreement.

González is contracted with Juventus until 2029, which means if negotiations collapsed entirely, Juve would technically have a player under contract for three more years who has no desire to play for them. That gives Atlético real leverage to keep pushing the fee lower, or at least to insist on the bonus structure rather than a clean fixed payment.

As of late May 2026, both clubs are described as close to finalizing terms. The agreement, when it comes, will likely land around that €25 million headline figure with variables attached.