Nicolo Barella was born on February 7th, 1997, in Cagliari, Italy. Growing up on the beautiful Sardinian island he would be taken to matches by his father and instructed to closely study player’s movements and the decisions they made.
A young Nicolo took it all in, learning a great deal from a side that had recently scaled Serie A but was now struggling in the second tier.
A short while later he attended the Giga Riva Football School, the midfielder honing skills that this summer will be on display at the Euros, seen by millions.
| Per year | €9,268,835 | £7,887,259 |
| Per month | €772,402 | £657,270 |
| Per week | €178,246 | £151,677 |
| Per day | €25,394 | £21,608 |
| Per hour | €1,058 | £900 |
| Per minute | €17 | £14 |
It felt inevitable that he would join Cagliari’s youth set-up and be a success there and both these things duly occurred, Barella impressing so much that he was called up to represent Italy at U15 level. By the time the box-to-box ‘mezzala’ was a full international he had played at least once for every age group.
Aside from travelling with the Azzurri, Barella had never spent a long time away from the island, so it was quite a culture shock when he joined Como on loan in 2016.
Even so, in the far north of the country, close to the Alps, the youngster shone, persuading a recently-promoted Cagliari to bring him home and station him in the heart of their team.
In 2018/19 he smashed stats for ball recoveries, made people sit up and take note of his passing range, and he was included in the Serie A Team of the Year. Inter Milan, lots of silverware, and plenty of riches soon after followed.
How Much Is Nicolo Barella Worth?
Barella’s salary of £7,887,297 at Inter compares favourably to all but the out-and-out superstars of Serie A. It equates to a touch over £150,000 a week and that’s before financial incentives.
What’s more, it is only set to increase, with a contract extension agreed upon in May 2024 essentially adding another million euros on top. That will make the 27-year-old the highest paid Italian player on the peninsula.
Yet, unlike so many of his peers, Barella is not a player who flaunts his wealth, a family man at heart with four offspring and contentedly married.
Outright Winner - Italy
There is a substantial property just three miles from the San Siro but even the obligatory football accessory – a supercar – does not appeal. The midfielder drives a £70,000 Volvo XC90, one of several that are loaned to the Nerazzurri for the players to use.
Away from football there are no business interests to report, Barella preferring to focus instead on his game, though he is contracted to wear Nike Mercurial Vapor cleats. This deal will harvest the player north of half a million pounds per year.
The Italian international’s net worth is £9m-plus.
Inter Career
On joining Inter in the summer of 2019, Barella hit the ground running, helping his new club reach a Europa League final and once again finding himself included in the Serie A Team of the Year.
Admirers likened him to Steven Gerrard for his dynamic midfielding and ability to pop up with a goal or two. This trait has made him a favourite of the online betting community.
He also won praise from established legends of the Italian game, not least Alessandro Del Piero.
His immediate success at the San Siro will have no doubt meant the world to the player who had long supported the Nerazzurri from afar. As a child he treasured an Inter top with ‘Recoba’ on the back that his father gifted him.
The season after, Inter won the Scudetto, featuring creative fare such as Christian Eriksen and Marcelo Brozovic, and bolstered by the goals of Romelu Lukaku, all the while with Barella at the team’s core.
Every August the Nerazzurri are among the favourites in the football betting to top Serie A but this was their first title in 11 years.
A Champions League final was reached a year later, the Italians narrowly losing out to Manchester City but this past season Inter have once again hit the peaks domestically, winning their 20th league title.
Family Life
While at Cagliari and breaking through in the game Barella met Federica Schievenin, a sports scientist who is seven years his senior.
The pair married in 2018 the Villa d’Orri in Sardinia, a former summer residence of the Savoy royal family.
By then, they already had a daughter, Rebecca, with Lavinia adding to the clan in 2019. A third daughter, Matilde, was born two years later. Early in 2024, Federica gave birth to the couple’s first son.
Falsely Accused
As alluded to above, Barella has carved out a reputation for being a no-nonsense, committed footballer but a clean-living individual off the pitch.
It came as quite a surprise therefore when he was named as part of the gambling scandal that engulfed Italian football last year.
Juventus’ Nicolo Fagiioli and Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali have subsequently been given lengthy bans for breaking regulations and betting on matches.
Barella was outraged to have his name slandered in such a fashion and promptly threatened legal action against the newspaper responsible and its dubious source. Both quickly offered up a full apology.
“You have nothing to do with this,” the informant made clear. “I made a mistake.”
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
