{"id":609620,"date":"2022-02-04T02:37:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-04T07:37:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=609620"},"modified":"2022-02-04T02:37:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-04T07:37:32","slug":"matteo-gabbia-new-ac-milan-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2022\/02\/04\/matteo-gabbia-new-ac-milan-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Matteo Gabbia Signs New AC Milan Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

AC Milan<\/a> have reached an agreement on a contract renewal for young centre-back Matteo Gabbia, according to the club’s official website<\/a>. Gabbia’s new contract runs until June 30, 2026, securing him with the\u00a0Rossoneri\u00a0<\/em>for over four years.<\/p>\n

Gabbia is a\u00a0Rossonero\u00a0<\/em>through and through. The Italian joined the club as a teenager, at 13-years-old, and is now 22-years-old. His first-team debut came in August 2017, and he now has 31 appearances under his belt. More importantly, 24 of these appearances have been starts.<\/p>\n

AC Milan Extension for Matteo Gabbia<\/h2>\n

The Player and the Fit<\/h3>\n

The young Italian centre-back has shown enough to date to merit a contract renewal. He doesn’t appear very often for Milan but is always available when the team’s depth is low.<\/p>\n

For example, throughout January, Milan had been without veteran Simon Kjaer and star Fikayo Tomori. Kjaer is out for the season, severely hurting the team’s centre-back depth, while Tomori underwent surgery<\/a> earlier this month. Gabbia has featured in the majority of Milan’s matches since the two injuries occurred.<\/p>\n

The contract renewal itself shows Milan’s faith in Gabbia. More than that, however, Milan chose to remain quiet<\/a> in the winter transfer window. A centre-back acquisition would’ve made sense, but\u00a0Rossoneri\u00a0<\/em>management is comfortable with who they have.<\/p>\n

As of right now, the three healthy centre-back options are Gabbia, Alessio Romagnoli, and Pierre Kalulu. Romagnoli and Kalulu started Milan’s last match against Juventus<\/a>, but Gabbia was readily available. With Tomori returning, Romagnoli staying healthy, and Kalulu looking like the preferred young option, it’s unlikely Gabbia sees many more starts this season.<\/p>\n

With that being said, Milan clearly view Gabbia as a great bench option. He will surely make more appearances down the road this season which will only help him gain valuable experience. Milan have a long history of keeping players who graduated from their youth academy, and Gabbia is the latest example.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>