Former Juventus Gem Samuel Iling-Junior Returns To Italy From Aston Villa
Samuel Iling-Junior is set to play for his third Italian club.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Updated on 02 February 2026
Samuel Iling-Junior is back in Italian soccer, the Juventus academy graduate sealing a loan move to Pisa from Aston Villa.
Iling-Junior spent most of his formative soccer years with English club Chelsea before joining the Juventus setup in 2020.
Although he left Juve permanently in 2024, he briefly returned to Italy when he spent half a season on loan at Bologna.
Now, after two loan spells in England, Iling-Junior is back in Serie A after Villa sanctioned a loan switch to Pisa.
Samuel Iling-Junior al @PisaSC! L’ex @juventusfc arriva in prestito fino a giugno dall’@AVFCOfficial. @SkySport
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) February 2, 2026
Samuel Iling-Junior: Why Pisa have moved for Juventus academy graduate
Samuel Iling-Junior offers speed, dribbling and crossing, and he is comfortable staying wide or driving inside to attack full-backs.
In addition, he knows Italian soccer inside out, having made 45 competitive outings for Juventus and 16 Bologna outings.
This makes him a good fit for Pisa, who could really do with some extra pace and creativity in their ranks.
Pisa are currently second from bottom in the Serie A table, on 14 points from 23 outings. They are four points behind 17th-placed Lecce.
What has gone wrong for Iling-Junior at Villa
Samuel Iling-Junior arrived as part of the deal that took Douglas Luiz to Juventus.
In hindsight, that deal has proven disastrous for both Iling-Junior and Luiz.
Iling-Junior was ticking along nicely at Juventus, but he hasn’t made a single competitive appearance at Villa.
Unai Emery quickly sanctioned a loan move to Bologna, which lasted a few months.
In January 2025, Iling-Junior returned to England, joining Middlesbrough on loan.
This season began in the English second tier with West Bromwich Albion, again on a temporary deal, before his latest switch to Pisa.
Meanwhile, Luiz struggled at Juventus and didn’t do much better at Nottingham Forest.
Now back at Aston Villa, he will hope to get his career back on track.
Giuseppe Labellarte
Giuseppe Labellarte is a sports journalist with over a decade of professional experience in the industry. His main professional expertise is in soccer. Prior to joining FootItalia, he worked for the likes of Sports Mole, TBR Football, the Chelsea Chronicle and numerous other sites, along with having bylines in the likes of the Nottingham Post. He holds degrees in Journalism and International Relations.
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