OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Carlo Pinsoglio extends contract through 2022-23 season

My esteemed colleague Sergio Romero has pointed out several times that being the third goalkeeper on a big team like Juventus has to be one of the greatest jobs in the world. You come to work, you train, then on game day you sit on the bench and holler your head off to cheer on your teammates before you go home and check your bank account when payday rolls around.

At least that’s how I imagine Carlo Pinsoglio goes about his business for Juve. The 31-year-old product of the Juventus youth academy has been serving in the role for four years now, and the sight of him the last two years sitting next to Gianluigi Buffon, yelling out encouraging words and celebrating like a madman when the team scores has brought smiles to every Juventino the world over.

Well, we’ll be seeing that for a little longer now, as Juve have officially announced that Pinsoglio has extended his contract through the 2022-23 season.

It’s likely that Pinsoglio will remain the third choice keeper over these next two seasons even with the departure of Buffon, as the team will almost certainly bring someone in to replace Gigi. But Pinso is a huge presence in the locker room and on the sidelines—a presence that we’ve all heard in the last year and a half of games played in empty stadiums, when his easily recognizable voice boomed over the field on a regular basis. That kind of leadership has a lot of value regardless of how little he’ll ever see the field. He usually gets his one and only run out on the last day of the season, and he got that this year even though it wasn’t a dead rubber like it has been in the past thanks to Juve taking a commanding 4-0 lead against Bologna. He even made a nifty save in that game, proving he isn’t all just a great beard and lung power.

Oh, and he has more scudetti than Francesco Totti. Just saying.

Here’s to even more Pinso time—the best time.