Milan and Juventus have both sent supporting messages to former Udinese and Sampdoria midfielder Jakub Jankto, who came out as gay today.
The 27-year-old Czech midfielder posted a video on his social media outlets announcing that he no longer wanted to hide and that he was gay, becoming one of the rare few openly gay active professional footballers.
Jankto spent seven years of his career in Italy, joining Udinese as a teenager and spending time on loan with Ascoli and Sampdoria before making a €14.5m move to the Ligurian outfit in 2019. After two years with the Blucerchiati, Jankto joined Getafe for €6m, and a year later joined Slavia Prague on loan.
Milan shared Jankto’s announcement video and expressed their support, saying: “Never live in fear of who you are. We stand by you, Jankto.”
Juventus also publicly reached out to share their support, commenting a rainbow and a love heart on his Instagram post. Udinese also commented a heart, standing by their former midfielder.
A number of players and other clubs reached out to support Jankto as well, with Bruno Fernandes, Barcelona, PSV, Getafe, Alex Meret and Marten De Roon all commenting on his Instagram post.