If it wasn’t obvious by now, the only blue jersey that Federico Gatti will be wearing for the foreseeable future will be when he goes on International duty with the Italian national team. Or, of course, during the upcoming season whenever Juventus wear their new light blue away kit for a select number of fixtures.
It won’t be, as we’ve come to find out, because he decided to sign with Napoli.
No that there had been any sort of rumors in the last couple of weeks that had Gatti suddenly spurning his career in Turin for life in Southern Italy. But the rumors have been there before — until they suddenly stopped earlier this year. That is because, as Gatti told members of the Italian press who are n Germany for Juventus’ training camp at adidas headquarters, he turned down a potential move to Napoli to play for Antonio Conte earlier this year and decided to stay with the Bianconeri. Not so long after that, Juventus announced that Gatti had officially signed his long-talked about contract extension that now ties him to the club through the 2029-30 season.
Here are Gatti’s words, in full, from his interview on Friday where he discussed his decision to stay at Juventus:
“I never put my future here in doubt. It was very pleasing to be of interest to a coach like Conte, who is one of the top bosses in the world, and of director Giovanni Manna. I thank them so much, because they pushed hard to take me to Napoli. However, I preferred to follow my heart. This is a family, Turin is my home, I grew up here. Let’s just say it was a pretty easy decision in the end.”
(Source: Football Italia)
That is a very polite way of Gatti saying “Thanks, but no thanks” to Conte and Napoli.
The signing of the contract extension shortly after doing just that is the cherry on top. Dude just loves playing for Juventus, loves the colors even though a good portion of his family roots for Torino — remember that Derby della Mole
No matter how you feel about Gatti’s overall skill level, he is very much an old soul of Juventus’ past — he plays the kind of crunching style in the way that somebody like Giorgio Chiellini and others of generations past did, he is about as Juventino as just about anybody on the current roster is, and a much-needed breath of fresh air when you look at how the roster has lost many of its pillars over the last five or 10 years.
Clearly, the desire to stay at Juventus was what won out rather than playing for arguably the best manager in Serie A and the team that will enter the new season as the favorite to repeat as Scudetto winners after their stunning title-winning campaign in Conte’s Naples debut.
Gatti was also asked about his physical health following his injury issues that carried over from the spring into the Club World Cup. He said: “I am feeling better, but it was a struggle, especially as my physique takes a while to recover and I was out for three and a half months. Fortunately, it’s been almost two weeks back in training now, I am putting fuel in the tank, but I still need a few matches to get up to speed.”
That hopefully means that Gatti will be able to get fully up to speed by the time Juventus are set to open the 2025-26 season against Parma on Sunday, Aug. 24, at the Allianz Stadium.
