OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Samuel Mbangula extends Juventus contract through 2028

Yesterday at 01:15 PM

Another Juventus Next Gen grad has signed on for the long term.

There has been no greater surprise so far this 2024-25 season than seeing Samuel Mbangula's name in the starting lineup in Juventus' curtain raiser last month. To many, he was a giant unknown, only truly known to those who had been following Juve's Next Gen squad the previous season and maybe even back to when he first arrived in Turin and joined the upper levels of the youth ranks.

A couple hours later, we all knew Mbangula and all saluted Thiago Motta for giving the young Belgian his senior team debut in Juve's season-opening win over Como.

Now, a little over a month since Mbangula burst onto the scene, another big moment in his young career has arrived. Juventus announced Thursday that Mbangula has become the latest Next Gen product to sign a new long-term contract at the club, as the 20-year-old Belgian winger has agreed to a new deal through 2028. Juventus described it as a "that is further confirmation of his impressive development" during his time in Turin, which began in the summer of 2020 — which certainly most have been an interesting time for anybody to first step foot in Italy — when he joined Juve's Under-17 team.

Mbangula follows in the path of Nicolo Savona, Jonas Rouhi and, most notably, Kenan Yildiz as Next Gen graduates to have signed new long-term deals in recent weeks.

Not only was Mbangula's inclusion in the starting lineup during Juventus' season opener a shock to just about everybody, but the fact that he scored the first goal of the new campaign was even more of a stunner. Mbangula's goal in the 23rd minute not only kick-started Juve's big opening performance against one of Serie A's newly promoted sides, but it was the highlight on what was already a big night for the young winger.

Although not hitting the same heights that he did in the season opener, Mbangula has gone on to make four appearances, starting three of them, this season. He is still tied for the team lead with Yildiz with two assists, which ranks them in a tie for fourth in Serie A.

Considering the wide options that Juventus brought in at the end of the summer transfer window, Mbangula isn't going to be relied on (and potentially starting a ton) like he did the first couple of weeks of the season. It's clear that Motta is a fan and likes what Mbangula brings to the table, so it's not like he's suddenly going to be stuck to the bench the rest of the season.

No matter what, though, Juventus wouldn't be signing Mbangula to a new long-term contract (and a nice raise to come with it) if they didn't think that he could develop into a future contributor in some shape or form. That's certainly something that Juve's management team isn't afraid to do, and Mbangula signing a new deal is further proof of that.