OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci signs contract extension through 2021

Last week, we saw a pair of Juventus’ youngest players receive contract extensions that pretty much showed that Daniele Rugani and Stefano Sturaro are viewed as long-term contributors. Monday brought a contract extension for one of the club’s true cornerstones.

In what has become a theme over the last week, as the clock struck 12 noon in Italy, Juventus were taking to Twitter and announcing a contract through the 2020-21 season. This time it was for defender Leonardo Bonucci, who, along with baby-faced striker Paulo Dybala, has been one of the long-rumored contract extension recipients over the past few months. Just for added measure, Bonucci also announced on his personal Facebook page that he had signed a new deal through 2021, adding a pretty heartfelt message along with it about staying in Turin for the next five seasons at the very least.

Good news? No.

Great news? Yes!

Once a mistake-prone young defender who had somewhat of a reputation for getting rattled in big matches, Bonucci has now become one of the best in the whole damn world. There are few defenders in the world who can combine Bonucci’s ability to not only defend as well as anybody but also play the ball out of the back and be the initiator in a lot of what Juventus does offensively. He has become one of Juve’s most consistent performers — something that might not have been imaginable during his first few years in Turin after his impressive performances with Bari.

Already one of Juventus’ highest-paid players, Bonucci, 29, is certainly going to receive a nice little raise with the announcement of this new contract, one would imagine.

A former Inter youth product, there are few players who show their love for Juventus more than Bonucci does. How many times have we seen him spending time in the curva with the fans when he serves a yellow card suspension or is out injured? He loves this club as much as anybody, and this contract extension is just another sign that he is going absolutely nowhere. And don’t let the English press tell you otherwise.

I guess it’s time to take bets on who the next Juventus player to have a new contract announced will be. Three common occurrences are considered a trend, and Juventus certainly have announced three contract extensions in the past seven days.