The buy clause, worth €40.6 million, was triggered automatically when Juventus secured a top-ten finish in Serie A following their win at Atalanta. Combined with the initial loan fee of €3.3 million and the player's wages, the total investment has reached around €46-47 million — for a striker who has scored two goals in 36 appearances and has not played a single minute in the last five league matches under Luciano Spalletti.
According to Tuttosport, Juventus are now actively exploring exit routes for Openda in the summer window. The most credible destinations discussed are Rennes in Ligue 1, managed by Franck Haise, who worked with Openda during his highly productive spell at Lens, and Bournemouth in the Premier League. The Cherries become particularly relevant if Marco Rose is appointed as Andoni Iraola's successor — Rose was Openda's coach at RB Leipzig and the two built a strong working relationship. Bournemouth have confirmed Iraola will leave at the end of the season and Rose has been identified as the frontrunner for the job.
The most likely exit mechanism is a loan, with or without a purchase option, as a permanent sale at a fee that avoids a significant loss on the books looks unrealistic given his season. Spalletti has shown no interest in working with Openda going forward, and the club's need to balance the books makes a swift departure essential.
The Belgian international, 25, arrived from Leipzig last summer as a theoretical partner for Jonathan David in attack. He never settled into Spalletti's three-striker system and faded entirely from the picture in the second half of the season.