Osvaldo joins Juventus on loan from Southampton
MILAN (AP) — Italy striker Pablo Osvaldo completed a loan move to Juventus on Friday after a troubled spell in England, while Inter Milan signed Brazil midfielder Hernanes from Lazio.
"I'm very happy," Osvaldo said of his return to Serie A. "Everything happened very fast and I still can't believe it ... It's been a hectic three or four days."
Juventus has the option to buy the 28-year-old before May 31, for 19 million euros ($25.6 million).
Osvaldo joined Southampton from Roma in August for a club-record 15.1 million euros (then $20 million).
The forward scored four times for the Premier League club but was suspended for two weeks on Jan. 23 following a training-ground incident.
Osvaldo was kicked out of the Confederations Cup squad last year for insulting his club coach at Roma in a breach of national team coach Cesare Prandelli's code of ethics.
Juventus is on course for a third straight league title and is six points clear of Osvaldo's former club Roma — its closest challenger.
Another player also returned to Serie A on loan from the Premier League, with former Lazio defender Modibo Diakite signing for Fiorentina from Sunderland.
Meanwhile, French winger Gael Kakuta moved to Lazio on loan from Chelsea.
Hernanes left Lazio's training ground in tears on Thursday, amid reports he was on the verge of signing for Inter.
The 28-year-old midfielder — who joined Lazio in 2010 — had a medical at Inter on Friday before penning a four and a half year deal.
Hernanes has scored two goals in 23 appearances for Brazil and helped his country to Confederations Cup success last summer.
Earlier, Saint-Etienne defender Faouzi Ghoulam signed for Napoli until 2018.
The 22-year-old Algeria international, who played for France at Under 21 level, made 87 league appearances in four seasons at Saint-Etienne.
Ghoulam is Napoli's third signing this month, following the arrivals of Jorginho and Henrique.
Napoli also confirmed it allowed Pablo Armero to join Premier League club West Ham on loan until the end of the season.
The club has also loaned out Paolo Cannavaro to newly-promoted Sassuolo, which has the option to buy the veteran defender at the end of the season.
Cannavaro — the younger brother of Italy's retired World Cup-winning captain Fabio — has been Napoli's captain, but has struggled for playing time under Rafa Benitez.
Sassuolo has signed goalkeeper Ciro Polito from Atalanta and forward Antonio Sanabria from Barcelona on permanent deals.
Elsewhere, Roma signed Rafael Toloi from Sao Paulo on loan until the end of the season. Roma has paid the Brazilian club 500,000 euros ($700,000) for the loan and will pay a further 5.5 million euros ($7.4 million) if it decides to buy the defender in the summer.
Roma also announced Marquinho has moved on loan to Hellas Verona.
Several other deals are expected to be completed before the transfer window shuts on Friday night, with Lazio's Hernanes having a medical at Inter Milan.
