Nicolo Fagioli's resurrection, from scandal to Italy's number ten

On Friday evening, Italy secured a 1-1 draw against France in Saint‑Denis, with Nicolo Fagioli, 25, lined up for 89 minutes, wearing the much‑coveted number ten once worn by Roberto Baggio, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero, in the context.

Debts and threats

A victim of an online sports betting addiction while he was at Juventus, he ended up with a debt of nearly three million euros. He says: “The longer time passed, the more my debt became an obsession and the more the money I owed kept increasing, I only thought about playing to try to recover it all. They told me: ‘We’ll break your legs if you don’t repay what you owe.’”

Suspended for seven months by the Italian federation, he is undergoing therapy to treat his addiction, trying to rebuild his career beyond the scandal.

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Renewal at Fiorentina

At the end of December 2024, after eleven years at Juventus, Nicolò Fagioli left the club to join Fiorentina. Wearing the Viola shirt, he says: “I took my life back into my own hands. I spent eleven years at Juve and when I decided to leave at the end of December, I felt lighter.”

This metamorphosis convinced Roberto Mancini to give him back the number ten. Taking advantage of Giacomo Raspadori’s injury, the manager handed the number to Fagioli alongside Sandro Tonali and Davide Frattesi in a 4‑3‑3. Mancini added: “I gave the number 10 to Nicolò and asked him to play with calm and personality, as he knows how to do. He can operate equally well as a playmaker or as a midfielder, a bit like Verratti.”

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Fagioli is expected again on Monday evening in Bologna to face Turkey, thus continuing his role within the Nazionale of the Azzurri.