AC Milan have reached an agreement on a contract renewal for young centre-back Matteo Gabbia, according to the club’s official website. Gabbia’s new contract runs until June 30, 2026, securing him with the Rossoneri for over four years.
Gabbia is a Rossonero 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.
AC Milan Extension for Matteo Gabbia
The Player and the Fit
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.
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 earlier this month. Gabbia has featured in the majority of Milan’s matches since the two injuries occurred.
The contract renewal itself shows Milan’s faith in Gabbia. More than that, however, Milan chose to remain quiet in the winter transfer window. A centre-back acquisition would’ve made sense, but Rossoneri management is comfortable with who they have.
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, 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.
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.
Main Photo
