Loïs Openda Reflects on Juventus Experience
Loïs Openda has no regrets about Juventus. Just a few truths.
The Belgium international, now trying to relaunch himself at Lyon, looked back on his brief and bruising spell in Turin and drew a clear line between the player he is and the team he joined.
“I had good chemistry with David”
Speaking to L’Equipe, Openda revisited the decision to leave RB Leipzig for Juventus in 2025, a move that produced only one goal in 34 appearances across all competitions in the 2025-26 season.
He insists he knew exactly what he was signing up for.
“I spoke with Damien Comolli, who was then the club director, and he explained how he intended to use me in a difficult league,” Openda said. Italy, he quickly realised, is not kind to forwards who live off space in behind.
“In Italy, the team that really exploits depth is Inter. Roma are only just starting to understand it.”
At Juventus, that clash of styles became obvious. Openda found himself competing directly with Dusan Vlahovic and Jonathan David for the same role in the side.
“The coach wanted me, but Vlahovic and David were already playing in my position,” he explained. “I had good chemistry with David, but the team wasn’t used to playing with a player who runs in behind, and Vlahovic tended to keep the ball to himself.”
The message is sharp, not bitter. Openda describes a tactical mismatch, not a dressing-room feud. He ran. The team did not always follow.
A season that never caught fire
Under Igor Tudor and then Luciano Spalletti, Openda never truly settled. The numbers tell the story: one goal, 34 games, a forward built for depth operating in a side that rarely attacked that way.
“I tried to get my chance, and sometimes I did,” he said. “But towards the end of the season, I realised that to play, I had to leave.”
No drama, just a cold conclusion. Juventus moved in one direction, Openda in another.
Yet he refuses to label the move a failure.
“It wasn’t a mistake, and it allowed me to work on aspects I hadn’t considered,” he insisted. “I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I’m sure that in other circumstances, it would have gone better.”
New chapter in Lyon
Those “other circumstances” now lie in France. Lyon paid €3.5m to take Openda on loan for the 2026-27 season, and the 26-year-old has started to find his feet again, with two goals in his first eight appearances.
There is no option to buy in the deal. Lyon are borrowing a striker still convinced that the Juventus chapter, however underwhelming on paper, sharpened his game and his resolve.
He left Turin with a single goal. He might yet prove that the real damage was done to the perception of what kind of striker he is – and that Lyon is where that image gets rebuilt.
