Dunno, for several good weeks it was circling around, maybe the source was Pedulla, but it was reported in both Italian and English media. And Chelsea not fully wanting Higuain only further strengthens the hypothesis as that's pretty much why the deal never happened and we ended up sacrificing Caldara to be able to move Higgy.
To me the face of Rugani when everyone greeted Ronaldo upon his arrival was "yeah, whatever, I'm never going to play with the guy anyway" and that's another thing that makes me believe that the rumor of us offering Rugani in a combo deal was true.
And I don't think we've completely given up on him, having a relatively cheap defender who's young, good, well versed in Allegri's universe and has potential to be better is definitely worth something for Juventus, we do need several back-ups. But I do think we don't view him as a future starter, which results in him being expendable and not getting the playing time he wants.