Their season finished in may
Nope
I imagine we have to be more careful with the legals because, as you say, loan with obligation to buy is "basically equal to buying straightaway". It's definitely something that could be used nefariously (not saying we and Juve would be in this case).
To be fair it's the same thing that reportedly happened to United. His rights holder must feel they have a very strong legal argument because if the court case is not decided in their favor they will have missed out on a multi-million pound buyout offer. Shame but there's not much we can do if they've got him dead to rights for a judgment worth tens of millions.
It may not be enough to win the title but it's a damn good start on closing the gap. We've brought in brilliantly talented young players at key positions of need on long-term contracts. Yes the squad is not perfectly rounded out but FFS we've smashed our transfer record twice on Poch's top choices. It's a brilliant, even if incomplete, window.
