Bologna Defender Transfer Plan Takes Shape After Lucumì Injury

Bologna Defender Transfer Strategy Decided

Bologna is preparing moves to shore up its defence, starting from one certainty: one reinforcement will arrive, perhaps even two.

This is what came out of yesterday afternoon’s meeting at Casteldebole between CEO Claudio Fenucci and technical directors Giovanni Sartori and Marco Di Vaio.

They were asked to come up with a transfer market strategy after Jhon Lucumì had to stop playing for at least a month.

Freytes Leads Bologna Shortlist

Vincenzo Italiano is now waiting for some solid answers. There are two players being watched: Juan Pablo Freytes is from Argentina and was born in 2000, and Eivind Helland is from Norway and was born in 2005, and he plays for Brann Bergen.

Right now, Freytes seems to have the edge for three reasons: he’s left-footed, Bologna have already reached a full agreement with the player on his contract and salary, and are also close to an agreement with the Brazilian club for his transfer fee – around £8 million.

The Argentine’s already got his bags packed and is just waiting for the go-ahead to fly to Italy. Things are looking up for Fluminense too, with the defender now focusing on Serie A. Helland’s in better shape, but he’s still a work in progress.

¡Mucho ánimo y pronta recuperación, Jhon! 💪🇨🇴#WeAreOne pic.twitter.com/TcIWnXp578

— Bologna FC 1909 (@BolognaFC1909en) January 12, 2026

Helland Option and Long-Term Planning

Bologna have also made progress with Helland, and Heggem’s presence could help him settle in. The plan is to give Italiano both today and tomorrow. Plus, Casale and Lucumì could probably leave in June.

The defender, who’s 196cm tall and was born in 2005, has played 63 games for Brann, 46 games for the Norwegian second team. He scored one goal for Brann and three for the Norwegian second team. He’s also played once for Norway, 10 times for the Under-21s, scoring one goal. His contract ends on 31 December 2026.