Report: Juventus’ €18 million offer for Kaio Jorge rejected by Santos

Juventus might be trying to do some shopping in Brazil.

For the last few weeks in Juventus transfer rumor land, we’ve pretty much heard the same names over ... and over ... and over ... and over again. There hasn’t been much variance, not much difference, not a whole lot of craziness that comes with the early stages of the summer transfer rumor season.

Well, enter a new name. A new of an 18-year-old Brazilian striker who is certainly not going to come cheap no matter how much interest there is from Juventus these days.

Here enters Kaio Jorge. Or, just Kaio.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Nicolo Schira, Juventus has tabled an offer for the 18-year-old Santos striker. However, that €18 million bid by Juve has subsequently been rejected by Santos. Why? Well, according to Schira, Santos want upwards of €30 million for Kaio, who has been dubbed as “the new Cristiano Ronaldo” because of course those kinds of tags always seem to stick around as the years go by.

When asked by a follower on Twitter if Juventus will try to table another offer for Kaio, Schira replied with a simple “Si.” No translation needed on that one, folks.

Nicolò Schira@NicoSchira

Il #Santos ha rifiutato un’offerta da €18M della #Juventus per #KaioJorge. I brasiliani ne vogliono almeno 30 per cedere l’attaccante classe 2002. #calciomercato

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4:43 PM - May 1, 2020

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As you can see from the linked article above, Juventus’ reported interest in Kaio goes back a few weeks. It was that Forbes article that cites a report from Goal Italia reporter Romeo Agresti, who noted that Kaio — who is under contract with Santos until 2021 — has a €50 million release clause built into his current contract with Santos. It is within that same Agresti report that said Kaio is attracting interest from across Europe, although no specific teams were mentioned.

Just how much would Juventus be willing to spend?

Well, based on this first reported bid that was probably quickly rejected, Juve’s going to have to likely open up the wallet quite a bit regardless of what the transfer market ends up being like as a result of revenue hits during the coronavirus pandemic.

Also from the Forbes article, some background:

The 2019 Under-17 World Cup winner, scored an 86th-minute winner in last Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores clash in the 2-1 victory over Defensa y Justicia. Making just his fourth senior appearance for the club, he is already making waves in his native Brazil and is expected to leave for Europe in the near future.

Kaio was called up to Brazil Under-15s for the 2017 South American Under-15 Championship, scoring four goals in only three matches during the competition. He netted five goals in the 2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, including one in the 2-1 defeat to Mexico in the final, and went on to win the Bronze Boot.

So, yeah. This move — if it is a thing — won’t come cheap. Not even close.