Andrea Pirlo: Why the Legend Is Worth Every Penny of His New Contract

Thirteen days ago, Andrea Pirlo put pen to paper on a two-year contract extension with Juventus.  He will be 37 years old by the time the contract is over, but the ageless architect is worth every single cent of that new deal.

We all know the story of Pirlo's career.  He had worn the No. 10 shirt with the U21 team and captained the Azzurrini to the 2000 European Under-21 Championship, making him Italy's golden child.  But a year later, stuck in a rut at Inter, Pirlo was loaned to his boyhood club, Brescia.  Coach Carlo Mazzone, who already had a fine advanced midfielder in Roberto Baggio, gave Pirlo the No. 5 jersey and installed him as a regista.

The rest is history.  AC Milan's Carlo Ancelotti bought him from Inter that summer and completed his transformation to deep-lying playmaker.  The awards followed quickly.  The winners' medals from two Scudetti, two Champions League crowns (and another runner-up finish), a Supercoppa and the Club World Cup all found places on Pirlo's mantle.  In 2006 came the crown jewel—an improbable World Cup win in which Pirlo was named man of the match three times (including in the semifinal and final), named to the tournament's All-Star team and awarded the Bronze Ball as its third-best player.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Fast-forward five years, however, and things had changed for the Italian legend.  His injury on the eve of the 2010 World Cup was the main contributor to Italy's humiliation in South Africa, and then-Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri was more interested in having destroyers like Mark van Bommel in his midfield than artists.  After an injury-plagued 2010-11 season in which he played little part in their league title, Milan informed him that his services were no longer required and that his contract would be allowed to expire.

Pirlo came to Juventus on a Bosman.  Milan were immediately made to regret their decision.

Since his move to Juve, Pirlo's pass completion rate, per WhoScored.com, has not dipped lower than 86.9 in league play.  Indeed, it has grown every year he has been in black and white—from 86.9 in '11-12 to 87.3 in '12-13 to 88.5 this past season.  Over those three years, he has 26 assists.

Simply put, Pirlo is still just as deadly a player as he was eight years ago in Germany despite his age. He may not have the pace he had as a younger man, which makes him somewhat vulnerable to man- marking.  It's a tactic that Costa Rica used on Friday in the World Cup to blunt his impact on the game.

Such a result was a due to a rare tactical mistake by Cesare Prandelli, who got his midfield mix wrong and left his most important player unforgivably exposed.

Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images

But that situation is unlikely to be seen at Antonio Conte's Juve.  The Bianconeri have such incredible talent in midfield—with the likes of Claudio Marchisio, Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal—that Pirlo is unlikely to be the focus of a designated marker, lest one of Juve's other midfield studs beat them instead.  Pirlo will almost always have the freedom to unlock opposing defenses and watch his teammates finish.

But beyond his considerable impact on the field, it may be what he brings off the field that becomes even more important.

As has been said, Pirlo has been involved in three Champions League finals and won two of them.  Having finally dug themselves out of the doldrums that they found themselves in following the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal, Juve is now looking beyond Italy's boarders to European glory.

But this team is young and relatively inexperienced at the continental level.  Last year's group stage crash out in the Champions League shows that despite a run to the quarters two seasons ago, this team still must learn to perform when the lights are brightest.

Pirlo is by far the most experienced Champions League player Juve possesses.  Gianluigi Buffon and Carlos Tevez are the only other players on the squad to have made the Champions League final.  Buffon is Juve's captain and commands great respect, but his in-game influence over the outfield players in front of him can be limited.  Tevez played well in his first year in Turin, but past locker room indiscretions call his ability as a leader into serious question.

Pirlo is the man who can lead this team by example.  He is central to everything the team does on the field.  He can elevate the men around him on any given day, in training and on match day.

Both on the field and off, Pirlo will continue to be a game-changer for Juve.  By 2016, he will justify every bit of the contract he's just signed.  With good coaching, smart management and a little bit of luck, he can be the player who propels Juventus into a new era of prosperity both in Italy and beyond.