Juventus’ goalkeeping order has become a live issue again, not because the club planned a change, but because Kamil Grabara’s serious injury has reduced the room for error behind Guglielmo Vicario.
Vicario, on loan from Tottenham, is now the established reference between the posts. Should he be unavailable, however, Luciano Spalletti would have to choose between two very different options: 36-year-old Carlo Pinsoglio and Next Gen goalkeeper Riccardo Radu.
Quick facts
- Grabara’s injury leaves Vicario as Juventus’ only clear senior certainty in goal.
- Radu, born in 2007, has made five Serie C appearances for Juventus Next Gen.
- Pinsoglio is in his ninth season as Juventus’ regular third goalkeeper.
- The veteran has played six competitive matches for the first team during that period.
- Spalletti’s recent selections suggest Pinsoglio would be next in line for the immediate vacancy.
The immediate hierarchy appears to favour Pinsoglio. On the opening matchday, when Vicario had only recently joined from Tottenham and Michele Di Gregorio and Mattia Perin were preparing to leave for Bournemouth and Palermo respectively, Juventus kept Pinsoglio available for the bench at Frosinone rather than calling up Radu.
That decision offered a clear indication of the current pecking order. Radu is expected to work permanently with the senior group, but his route towards becoming Vicario’s deputy will depend on what he shows in training over the coming weeks.
Radu represents the club’s youth pathway. The Turin-born goalkeeper, who has Romanian family roots, came through Juventus’ academy and caught the eye during the Allianz Stadium family friendly, producing several stops against Kolo Muani.
His professional experience remains limited. He only made his senior debut a month ago and has so far collected five Serie C outings with the Next Gen side.
Pinsoglio, by contrast, made his first professional appearance more than 16 years ago, in Serie C at Viareggio. His Juventus role has long extended beyond match minutes: he is a familiar dressing-room figure whose work at Continassa has repeatedly been recognised with late-season appearances.
Across nine campaigns as the Bianconeri’s third keeper, he has played only six times. Those came in brief or symbolic spells: 27 minutes against Verona in 2018, a full match with Sampdoria in 2019, 18 minutes against Roma in 2020, 22 against Bologna in 2021, 45 against Fiorentina in 2022 and another 45 against Monza in 2024.
His last complete match was seven years ago. Yet experience, trust and the existing internal order may still count more than Radu’s potential if Juventus are forced into an emergency selection.
Spalletti had already treated the subject of goalkeeper depth lightly in February, before the Champions League play-off return against Galatasaray. Asked then about the competition involving Di Gregorio and Perin, he joked that decisions had to consider everyone — including Pinsoglio’s newborn second son, Noah, who already wanted to be a goalkeeper.
For now, Juventus will hope the question remains theoretical and that Vicario stays available. But if the season demands another goalkeeper, the club’s long-serving third choice appears likely to stand ahead of the young prospect, at least until Radu earns a different status on the training pitch.
