Jeff Ekhator Osayuki, the 19-year-old Genoa forward, is moving to Juventus in a transfer agreement finalised on 1 July, with the Bianconeri sending cash plus Next Gen midfielder Puczka to the Grifone as part of the package.
The deal closes a chapter that had been building for months. Ekhator Osayuki spent the 2025-26 Serie A season accumulating 30 appearances for Genoa under coach Daniele De Rossi, scoring three goals and carrying an average match rating of 6.60 — respectable numbers for a teenager navigating a side that finished 15th on 41 points, conceding 50 goals across 37 league matches. The club's structural fragility was never his to fix alone, but his consistent presence in De Rossi's squad confirmed he was ready for a bigger stage.
Napoli had also registered interest, which tells you something about the market's read on Ekhator Osayuki's ceiling. His AI overall score sits at 63 out of 100, with a projected potential of 78 — the kind of gap that makes a club like Juventus willing to move now rather than wait for the price to climb. Born in November 2006, he has already earned international recognition at Under-21 level for Italy, an early credential that sharpens the competitive logic behind the transfer.
For Genoa, the arithmetic is straightforward: cash in on an asset before his value peaks, absorb Puczka as a development piece, and rebuild around the signings already arriving — the club confirmed the acquisition of Meichtry from Thun on the same day the Ekhator deal was announced. De Rossi's squad will look considerably different next season.
For Ekhator Osayuki, the move to Turin is the examination his talent has been pointing toward. Three goals in 30 matches for a relegation-threatened side is a foundation, not a ceiling, and at 19 he arrives at Juventus with room to grow into whatever the Bianconeri need him to become.