When Mehmet Zeki Çelik answers calls to his hometown he uses three words: 'Bursa’nın gururu.' The line is small, but it fits a player who has kept his private life deliberately spare even as transfer talk has pushed him into the center of European summer business; Çelik is reportedly in the final months of his AS Roma contract and has reportedly reached a principle agreement to join Juventus on a free transfer in June 2026.
That simple reported move matters because of the numbers behind it: Çelik is 29 years old, has played about 60 matches for Turkey, has been at Roma since 2022, and won a Ligue 1 title during his time at Lille — experience Juventus would pick up without paying a transfer fee if the deal is completed. Roma would, in turn, lose a right back they have relied on across multiple Serie A campaigns.
Çelik’s path is straightforward to trace and explains why clubs are moving in on him. Born on 17 February 1997 in Bursa’s Yıldırım district, he began at local side Yavuz Selimspor, developed in Bursaspor’s youth system and played professionally for Bursaspor and Bursa Nilüferspor before moving to İstanbulspor. Strong performances in the 1. Lig took him to Europe, where a spell at Lille included a Ligue 1 title and led to his transfer to AS Roma in 2022.
The personal details that follow the résumé are spare but telling. He is the youngest of nine children, stands 1.80 meters tall, and has spoken of a period when his father worked as a construction worker to support the family; Çelik is described as single, not married and without children. Those facts help explain the quiet public life he maintains and the compact public image that contrasts with the noise of transfer windows.
The friction in this story is not about pedigree but about finality. Multiple reports have linked Çelik to Juventus and say a principle agreement exists for a June 2026 free move; those reports remain unconfirmed by the clubs involved. At the same time, domestic interest persists: Fenerbahçe has been named among clubs seeking to strengthen at right back, and the Turkish side is reported to be prepared to move Nelson Semedo on if a satisfactory offer arrives — Semedo played 40 matches this season, totaling 3,023 minutes with one goal and three assists.
That knot of claims matters beyond Italian club bookkeeping. Çelik is the regular right back for the Turkey national team and is described as one of the key defensive pieces in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Any change of club in June would shift not only his daily training and tactical context but also how national-team coaches view his availability and form heading into decisive qualifying fixtures.
There is a second, quieter tension: Çelik has kept a modest life away from cameras, yet the end of his Roma contract forces a public decision that will shape the next half-decade of his career. A free transfer would allow a major Italian club to add a seasoned international without an outlay on a transfer fee; for Roma, the loss would be immediate and tangible — a regular starter at a position that is rarely easy to replace.
The next, unavoidable point on the calendar is June 2026. That is when reports place any free move to Juventus as finalizing and when Roma would have to respond to a confirmed departure. The single, most consequential unresolved question now is whether the reported principle agreement will be signed and lodged with the clubs — and, if it is, how Roma will remap a right-back slot that has been occupied by Çelik since 2022.
