Michele Di Gregorio Joins AFC Bournemouth on Loan
Michele Di Gregorio has drawn a hard line under his Juventus chapter. The goalkeeper has scrubbed almost every trace of the club from his social media, and his words – and body language – now belong firmly to AFC Bournemouth.
The 27-year-old has joined the Cherries on a season-long loan with an option to buy, a deal that could rise to around €14m including bonuses. After two turbulent years in Turin, he arrives on the south coast sounding relieved, energised and ready to prove a point.
“I feel good, I feel happy, I'm very pleased to be here,” Di Gregorio said in his first interview with Bournemouth. Simple phrases, but delivered with the conviction of someone who needed a reset.
He spoke of a club that chased him hard.
“I felt the club's strong desire to bring me here and I felt the club's ambition to continue growing and achieving great things,” he explained. “It's the first European experience for this club and I want to help out and hope to have a fantastic season.”
That ambition matters. Bournemouth are preparing for their first-ever European campaign, and they have handed the gloves to a goalkeeper who has just spent two seasons at Juventus and featured in the Champions League. For Di Gregorio, the stage is exactly where he wants to be.
“The Premier League is definitely the best league in the world. For me, it's an honour to be here and play in it and to be involved in matches at the highest level, I can't wait to get started.”
The move did not come in a vacuum. Before committing, Di Gregorio turned to a familiar voice: Lloyd Kelly. The defender shared a dressing room with him at Juventus after spending five years at Bournemouth, and his endorsement carried weight.
“I spoke with (Lloyd) Kelly, I asked him because he'd already been here and he spoke very well of the club, the city and the life here,” Di Gregorio revealed. “He recommended this move to me. I also had the chance to speak with him about the Premier League and he told me it's a fantastic league where the games are always open and it's truly the best in the world.”
If Juventus is now airbrushed from his social feeds, it is not erased from his footballing education. Di Gregorio is clear about what those two years gave him, even if they ended under a cloud of criticism.
“Being at Juventus over the last two years allowed me to grow to a European level having played in the Champions League for the last two years,” he said. “I believe that will serve me well and help me to help the team.”
He does not shy away from describing his own game either.
“I believe I'm a very strong, reactive goalkeeper. Being here and testing myself in this league where there are lots of top goalkeepers will help further my development.”
That development will be watched closely in Turin. Juventus have already moved on, bringing in Guglielmo Vicario from Tottenham Hotspur on loan with an option to buy. Many supporters see that as an upgrade after Di Gregorio’s late-season errors and shaky displays, a feeling that only sharpened the reaction to his social media clean-up.
So the break is clear. Juventus have Vicario. Bournemouth have Di Gregorio – motivated, battle-scarred, and stepping into the Premier League with something to prove.
