OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Juventus sign Federico Gatti, loan him back to Frosinone

On the final day of the January transfer window, Juventus is adding to its stable of players with the first name of Federico.

This one, unlike the others, doesn’t play in attack, nor does he play on one of the wing positions in defense. Rather, this Fede, 23-year-old Federico Gatti, is arguably one of Serie B’s breakout players this season as he leads Frosinone’s defense from the center of the line. Thanks to those performances, Gatti caught the eye of Juventus (and other clubs around Serie A), as he sealed his move to the black and white side of Turin on a €7.5 million deal worth another €2.5 million in add-ons, it was announced on Monday.

Gatti, a Turin native, will spend the rest of the season back on loan with Frosinone, then likely return to Juventus over the summer and be part of preseason preparations.

At 6-foot-3, Gatti is very much the classic Italian central defender that is more than happy to get physical and use his size to his advantage in aerial duels. Because of that, it should come as no surprise that Gatti has said in previous interviews that his idol is current Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini.

Juventus reportedly fought off competition from Torino, Napoli, both Milan clubs and Atalanta, the most notable of those being their city rivals who were searching for a potential replacement for Brazilian central defender Bremer, who has been linked with a move to a big club this coming summer.

Stashing Gatti in Serie B for the rest of the season will allow him to finish the 2021-22 campaign at a club where he is comfortable and continue to lead Frosinone to a potential promotion spot into Serie A. Gatti and Frosinone currently have the third-best defense in Serie B, and he has been the clear leader as to why they are doing what they have done this season.

His career path is nothing short of remarkable, having played in Italy’s sixth division as recently as 2018. He went up one division from there, playing in Serie C with Pro Patria — and against Juve’s Under-23 squad — during the 2020-21 season and now in the second division with Frosinone this season. Come a few months from now, he could very well be wearing a Juventus jersey, capping a five-year stretch that could very well be turned into a movie if you wanted to do so.

Not bad for a guy who used to work in construction not so long ago.