OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Nicolo Fagioli signs contract extension through 2028

On the surface, Nicolo Fagioli’s rise to regular starter in the Juventus midfield was a local kid living the dream that so many of his friends probably wished they could have. He was now in the spotlight at the club he grew up at, with such a bright future in front of him because of what he was going to bring to Juventus in the present and future.

What we didn’t know is that during that same rise to prominence, Fagioli was dealing with a gambling problem that was spinning out of control. We’ve come to know this because that’s exactly what he told investigators right before everything came to light and then

But here’s the thing, Juventus has stuck by Fagioli ever since things started going south off the field. And this day is just the latest instance in which the club has the back of the player in this greatest time of need.

Juventus announced Tuesday that they have signed the 22-year-old Fagioli to a contract extension through 2028. That’s the second contract extension through 2028 that they’ve given to a member of their much-maligned midfield, as Manuel Locatelli penned a new deal (and got a nice little raise) late last week. For Fagioli, though, who is still in the early stages of his seven-month suspension that will keep him out for pretty much all of the remaining games in the 2023-24 season, this is the clearest of signs that Juve are perfectly willing to support him in the long term as well as the immediate future as he deals with everything that has come with his gambling addiction.

Here’s the official announcement regarding Fagioli’s new deal from Juventus’ website:

Juventus is delighted to announce that Nicolò Fagioli’s contract has been renewed until 30 June 2028.

The relationship with Nicolò therefore continues, with the midfielder having arrived at Juventus in 2015 as a 14-year-old, rising through the youth ranks until his senior debut in 2021.

It is a day in which Fagioli can certainly cherish — especially with everything that he’s dealt with over the past year or so. Things have not been easy for him as his personal life started to truly creep into his professional life and the emotions of everything that was happening off the field boiled over into something that couldn’t be stopped.

We know Fagioli has the talent to stick at Juventus. He is a midfielder that has plenty of talent and the kind of dynamic player that unfortunately now has to limit his development to the training fields at Continassa until the final week of the season. That’s the reality of the situation, with plenty of work still to do to both see out the rest of his suspension but also put himself in the kind of physical and mental condition that he’s ready to resume his career just when it was truly starting to look like it was about to take another big step forward.

Before that step forward actually happens, though, at least Fagioli knows that the club is firmly behind him as he works his way back. He’s got the support of management and his manager. He’s got the support of his teammates who he sees at training but doesn’t get to step on the field with them each weekend. He’s got just about anybody associated with Juventus supporting him as he works his way back.

And now he’s got a brand new contract that tells you all you need to know about how the club feels about the player and their faith in the person. Sure, it might have been in the works before everything came out during the previous international break in October, but Juventus still went through with it. That should tell you all you need to know about how much they value Nicolo Fagioli.