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For months now, we\u2019ve heard about Federico Gatti potentially being close to signing a new long-term contract with Juventus. We first heard about it in November, and there have been plenty of rumors since then that things have either progressed or reached a point of stagnation in negotiations.<\/p>\n
As we now sit here in mid-March, there is still no contract extension actually signed.<\/p>\n
And one of Juventus\u2019 biggest Serie A rivals might be circling because of it.<\/p>\n
According to Sky Italia on Wednesday<\/a>, Napoli have already identified a defensive reinforcement for next season as they prepare to return to the Champions League \u2014 and that is the 26-year-old Juventus. Sky says that Gatti \u2014 whose current contract in Turin runs through 2028 \u2014 is at the top of Napoli sport director Giovanni Manna\u2019s list of transfer targets for the summer. That comes as no surprise as Manna, who joined Napoli in the summer of 2024, was in the Juventus front office when Gatti first arrived in Turin from Frosinone in January 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sky doesn\u2019t provide any info on what Juve\u2019s potential asking price may be for Gatti, who currently leads the team in minutes played this season by a considerable margin.<\/p>\n In a season that has seen plenty of players coming in and out of the starting lineup due to injury, Gatti has been the one constant for under-fire manager Thiago Motta. Gatt has played … and played … and played some more. He leads Juventus in minutes played \u2014 and has gone a full 90 in 35 of his 39 appearances this season \u2014 and is the only outfield player on the roster to have played over 3,000 minutes in all competitions.<\/p>\n But having to play so many minutes as Juve lacked any sort of depth in the center of defense has clearly taken its toll on Gatti, who has been rumored to be one of the players who isn\u2019t so happy with how Motta has handled things of late.<\/p>\n How much that has played into the delay in a contract extension coming to fruition is hard to say, but it\u2019s easy to connect some potential dots if things aren\u2019t as on as good of a standing as they were at the beginning of the season. And how that the season has very much gone in a downward trajectory compared to when it first started and Gatti was wearing the captain\u2019s armband, you can see that things are a little less stable when it comes to committing to Juve\u2019s future.<\/p>\n On top of their interest in Gatti, Napoli have already reportedly agreed to a deal for 20-year-old Empoli center back Luca Marianucci. (You know, one of the Empoli youngsters that helped the Tuscan side stun Juventus in the Coppa Italia last month.) Current Napoli defender Juan Jesus is also out of contract this summer, thus resulting in multiple signings at the back for Antonio Conte\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n