External links
- Profile at the AC Milan website
- Koni De Winter at the Royal Belgian Football Association
- Koni De Winter – UEFA competition record ( archive )
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 12 June 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Antwerp, Belgium [1] | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | AC Milan | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2015 | City Pirates Antwerp | ||
| 2015–2016 | Lierse SK | ||
| 2016–2018 | Zulte Waregem | ||
| 2018–2021 | Juventus | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2022 | Juventus U23 | 22 | (2) |
| 2021–2024 | Juventus | 0 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | → Empoli (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → Genoa (loan) | 29 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | Genoa | 25 | (3) |
| 2025– | AC Milan | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Belgium U15 | 3 | (0) |
| 2017 | Belgium U16 | 2 | (1) |
| 2019 | Belgium U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Belgium U19 | 4 | (0) |
| 2021–2023 | Belgium U21 | 18 | (0) |
| 2024– | Belgium | 4 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:47, 24 May 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 9 June 2025 | |||
Koni De Winter (born 12 June 2002) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as Centre-back for Serie A club AC Milan and the Belgium national team.
De Winter played in City Pirates Antwerp until 2015. [3] He played the 2015–16 season in the Lierse SK youth academy. [3] The following season, De Winter moved to the Zulte Waregem youth academy. [3] In the summer of 2018, he moved to Italian Serie A club Juventus, becoming the first Belgian footballer ever to play for them. [4] [5] Initially joining the youth academy, in the 2018–19 season, De Winter made 27 appearances and scored one goal with the under-17s. [4] In the 2019–20 season, he made 8 appearances with the under-19s team. [6] The following season, De Winter made 23 appearances with the under-19s [7] often playing as captain. [5]
On 28 October 2020, De Winter was called up by Juventus' first team coach Andrea Pirlo for a UEFA Champions League match against Spanish La Liga club Barcelona. [8] On 20 February 2021, he renewed his contract until 2024. [9] On 24 July, he made his unofficial debut for Juventus in a 3–1 win against Cesena; scoring the opening goal in the 4th minute. [10]
De Winter made his debut for Juventus U23 – the reserve team of Juventus – on 22 August 2021 in a 3–2 win against Pro Sesto in the Coppa Italia Serie C. [11] On 20 October, he was sent-off in a 2–2 draw against AlbinoLeffe, ten minutes after his entry onto the field. [12] On 27 October, De Winter scored his first career goal: an equalizing goal in a 1–1 draw against Piacenza. [13]
On 23 November, he made his official debut with the first team as well as his debut in the Champions League in a 4–0 defeat against English Premier League club Chelsea coming on as substitute of Juan Cuadrado in the 81st minute. [14] On 8 December, De Winter made his debut as starter for the first team in a 1–0 win against Malmö FF, becoming the youngest Juventus player to debut as a starter at 19 years and 179 days; [15] he was eventually susbstitued in the 70th minute by Mattia De Sciglio. [16]
On 29 January 2022, he had a luxation of his left shoulder during a match against Feralpisalò. [17] On 6 March, De Winter returned from his injury in a 1–0 win against Pro Sesto coming on as a substitute the 85th minute; four minutes later, De Winter scored the winning goal. [18] After the end of the season, on 9 July, the defender officially renewed his contract with the club until 2026. [19] [20]
On 9 July 2022, the same day as his contract extension with Juventus was announced, De Winter was sent on loan to fellow Serie A side Empoli, [21] with the deal being made official by both teams the following day. [20] [22] [23]
On 11 August 2023, he moved on loan to Genoa, with a conditional obligation to buy. [24]
On 1 July 2024, De Winter was permanently transferred to Genoa ahead of the 2024–25 season, as the club achieved the conditional buy obligation for an estimated €8 million transfer fee. [25] [26]
On 13 August 2025, De Winter joined fellow Serie A club AC Milan on a five-year contract. [27]
On 23 March 2024, De Winter debuted for the Belgium national team in a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland. [28]
A pretty versatile player, De Winter can play as a central defender, a full-back on both sides, a defensive midfielder or even as a mezzala . [3] [29]
De Winter was born in Belgium to a Belgian father and Congolese mother. [30]
| Club | Season | League | Cup [a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Juventus U23 | 2021–22 | Serie C | 22 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | 3 [b] | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| Juventus | 2021–22 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 [c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Empoli (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie A | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| Genoa (loan) | 2023–24 | Serie A | 29 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 0 | ||
| Genoa | 2024–25 | Serie A | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 3 | ||
| Total | 54 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 57 | 3 | ||||
| AC Milan | 2025–26 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 90 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 104 | 5 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 2024 | 1 | 0 |
| 2025 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
Juventus [31]
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