18 June 2023
Youngsters Fabio Miretti, Nicolò Fagioli, Matias Soulé, Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea have over this past season become an integral part of the Juventus First Team.
Yet there were even more Next Gen players who made the step up this year, being included in the matchday squads for Serie A, Champions League, Europa League and Coppa Italia fixtures under the orders of Coach Massimiliano Allegri, turning their childhood dreams into reality. Overall, there have been eight new Next Gen stars who have been integrated into the senior squad:
- Tommaso Barbieri (who made his debut)
- Mattia Compagnon
- Gian Marco Crespi
- Giovanni Garofani
- Alessandro Riccio
- Simone Scaglia
- Nikola Sekulov
- Alessandro Sersanti
MATTIA COMPAGNON
Mattia Compagnon has been wearing the Juventus Next Gen shirt since February 2021, when he joined from Udinese. Born in 2001, he is an offensive player, deployed mainly as an attacking right-back. With Juventus Next Gen he has made 76 appearances in total, scoring 17 goals, making him the side's all-time top scorer.
Mattia's eye-catching performances with the Second Team earned him three call-ups to the First Team. The first was on the occasion of Lecce-Juventus last October, the second at home, in Juventus-Sampdoria, and the third in the Europa League, at home to Freiburg. Compagnon also took part in the 2022 Summer Tour, scoring in the tour's opening friendly encounter against Chivas in Las Vegas.
GIAN MARCO CRESPI
A relatively new arrival at Juventus, Gian Marco Crespi arrived in Turin on loan from Crotone in January 2023 to defend the Juventus Next Gen goal between the sticks. Born in 2001, he made six appearances with the Second Team, his season cut short by an injury in February after an excellent start.
Gian Marco had already made his Serie A debut in the Crotone shirt in May 2021, but received a call-up to the Juventus First Team bench in the Europa League match against Nantes at the Allianz Stadium.
GIOVANNI GAROFANI
Born in 2002, goalkeeper Giovanni Garofani has been at Juventus since 2018, and has been called up by Mr Allegri six times this year: two in the Champions League, against PSG and Benfica, and six in Serie A, against Sassuolo, Sampdoria, Fiorentina and Salernitana.
Across his injury-ravaged campaign, he made 10 appearances with Juventus Next Gen - nine in the league and one in the Coppa Italia Serie C. Giovanni's very first Serie A call-up came in the 2020/21 season.
ALESSANDRO PIO RICCIO
A life in Bianconero, from the youth ranks all the way up to the senior team. Alessandro Pio Riccio, who also played from the start in December's pre-Christmas friendly against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, was called up to the First Team three times in official matches. The first was on 7 January 2023 on the occasion of Juve-Udinese, then for Empoli-Juve and Udinese-Juve, respectively the third-last and final day of the Serie A championship.
For the central defender born in 2002, this has been a season of enormous growth, where he has confirmed himself as a pillar of the Juventus Next Gen: 31 appearances in total, which, added to the 27 of the previous season, tell the story of his immense progress.
SIMONE SCAGLIA
Born in 2004, shot-stopper Simone Scaglia was the youngest player to be called up to the first team this season. For him, the call-up came on 13 November 2023 on the occasion of Juventus-Lazio played at the Allianz Stadium, the last match before the World Cup break.
A moment that Simone will certainly never forget, which came in a season that was not easy. A shoulder injury forced him to end his season early, but he did, however, manage a return to the field before the season's end, forming part of the Under-19 squad on the last day of the championship against Fiorentina.
NIKOLA SEKULOV
Having joined Juventus in July 2019, Nikola Sekulov first shone with the Under-17 and Under-19 sides, continuing his growth with the Next Gen before earning a call-up to the First Team on 19 March 2023. The occasion: none other than the Derby d'Italia against Inter Milan at San Siro.
Born in 2002, Nikola is a versatile forward who is comfortable in any position along the front line. This season he scored six goals between the league and Coppa Italia Serie C with the Next Gen side.
He has made a total of 80 appearances with the Second Team, more than any other player in the club's history.
ALESSANDRO SERSANTI
It was a special end to the season for Alessandro Sersanti, our midfielder born in 2002. He may not have made his Serie A debut, but was called up as part of the first team squad in the last three matches of the season, namely Empoli-Juve, Juve-Milan and Udinese-Milan.
This past campaign was his second season in a Juventus shirt. Following his arrival in July 2021, he has made 74 appearances for the Next Gen team (only four players have more appearances than him in the club's history), scoring four goals.
