OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Juan Cuadrado signs contract extension through 2022

There was a time last season when Juan Cuadrado’s future at Juventus might have been in doubt. He was both injured and then, upon his return, playing far from the level we had seen from the speedy Colombian in previous seasons. He might have been a favorite of Max Allegri, but it was a slow burn when it came to shaking off the rust after missing four months of the 2018-19 season.

But a new season brought a new start.

And, as we’ve come to find out, a new position as well.

Just to make this an official “three’s a trend” line of thinking, this new season with a new position has now brought Cuadrado a new contract.

Just two days after extending the contract of Leonardo Bonucci through 2024, Juventus has again handed out a new deal to one of this season’s best performers in Cuadrado. The club and the 31-year-old winger-turned-fullback have agreed to a contract extension through the 2021-22 season, the club announced on Thursday, adding two years onto Cuadrado’s current deal that was set to expire at the end of June 2020.

Cuadrado, re-acquired by Juventus after a failed loan spell at Chelsea nearly 3 ¹⁄₂ years ago, has seen his career with the Italian champions get back on track this season since Maurizio Sarri moved him to defense and slotted him in as one of the team’s fullbacks. The terzino-ing of Cuadrado has been something long-rumored and occasionally something that Allegri tried out in a pinch during his time as Juve’s manager. But it hasn’t been until this season that it became a full-time kind of move, with the results surpassing just about everybody’s expectations.

And with Juventus obviously having plenty of options in attack and the competition for minutes up front as strong as its been in years, Cuadrado becoming a full-time fullback might be the best thing that’s happened to him to ensure that he’s a regular starter.

With that new position comes a new contract.

Congrats, Johnny. And may you continue to play well throughout this season and into the next with your brand new contract now secured.