While certainly not a recipient of the amount of hype as other recent Juventus Next Gen graduates, Nicolo Savona was a benefactor of the club’s need to promote a few names from within last summer. Not only did the then-21-year-old get a roster spot with the big club, but he was also rewarded with a new contract to go along with it back in early August.
After getting a new contract on the eve of the 2024-25 season, the young Italian defender has put pen to paper on another new contract less than a year later.
Juventus announced on Thursday that they have signed Savona to a contract extension through 2030, adding a year onto the deal that he signed prior to making his Serie A debut 10 months ago. While talks reportedly began last month with Juventus’ now-former front office led by Cristiano Giuntoli, the 22-year-old Savona is the first official move completed and signed alongside new general manager Damien Comolli. It caps a year in which Savona has gone from a player who was thought to be promoted from the Next Gen squad to provide depth for a squad in transition to being thrown right into the fire by former manager Thiago Motta and easily surpassing anybody’s estimates of how much he could play.
With his new contract comes a reported bump up in pay, as Savona has now become one of the few Juventus players who currently have a deal that runs into the 2030s.
Under Motta, Savona was thrust into the starting lineup from the early weeks of the season onward. Coming up from the Next Gen squad and having no previous senior experience, it was quite the surprise to see him suddenly starting the second game of the season in Juve’s win over Hellas Verona, game in which Savona just so happened to score his first Serie A goal. He made his top flight debut the prior weekend as a sub in Juve’s season-opening win over Cesc Fabregas and newly-promoted Como.
Those were the first two of Savona’s 37 appearances across all competitions this past season.
A product of Juventus’ youth setup who first joined the academy in 2017, Savona could very well go the Giorgio Chiellini route and shift to more of a center back as his career goes on. Standing 6-foot-4, Savona certainly has the size to play more of a central role, with his attacking chops not exactly something that would be considered a major strength at this point in his career.
No matter what, though, Savona has followed the lead of fellow youngster Kenan Yildiz and now signed a pair of contract extensions within the span of the year. Not bad at all, kid.
