Patience — a virtue that Serie A’s new Zlatan must respect
High praise indeed.
He is an incredible 6ft 4in tall, has hit 34 goals in 30 matches for his side and is an Italy Under 17 international.
These statistics have unsurprisingly put some foreign clubs on high alert and both PSV Eindhoven and English Premier League side Southampton have made approaches to the family and his agent. In fact the Dutch club have made claims that a deal has already been struck.
So, why are Roma potentially allowing such a prospect to leave? Well, they aren’t, but have little control over the situation.
Currently, he is too young to sign a contract, though that changes when he turns 16 in January. The Giallorossi will offer him a three-year deal at €1450 a month, something many older Primavera players aren’t even considered for, so undoubtedly a generous deal for the youngster.
But, abroad he can earn more, much more and reports are suggesting that the lure of the lucre may see the young starlet leave the home of his birth, before ever stepping foot on a Serie A football pitch.
Roma have already experienced a similar situation in 2008 when Davide Petrucci left Italy to join Manchester United at the age of 17. At the time, the club decided not to match the English giants contract, for fear of setting a precedent with other youngsters holding the club to ransom.
Petrucci (or perhaps his family) decided to make the switch to the UK and a budding talent was lost.
But he was not the first highly rated Italian to put money and perceived opportunities ahead of a more traditional rise through the Italian football system.
Arturo Lupoli moved at the same time but to rivals Arsenal, another Parma protégé, with the Serie A side compensated a meager £200,000, just as Roma were for Petrucci.
Goalkeeper Vito Mannone was snatched from Atalanta at the age of 17, again by the Gunners, this time with £350,000 as an incontestable compensation payment to the Orobici.
More recently, Federico Macheda left Lazio shortly after his 16th birthday to join Manchester United (yes them again) with the intention of becoming an Old Trafford hero.
Other than moves to the UK, one other thing links all these promising but flighty teenagers – failure.
With the lack of earning power in Italy and a so-called penchant for the more mature player, these starlets, or more worrying their advisers, felt that their career would best be served in England.
They could not have been more wrong.
Rossi has been arguably the most successful but not in Manchester, with modest sides Villareal and Fiorentina the current summits of his career.
Lupoli is plying his trade in Serie B after a string of failed loan deals and Macheda, though still in the UK, has bounced around half of Europe before becoming a Cardiff City player in England’s second tier. Keeper Mannone currently warms the bench for English league strugglers Sunderland.
And Petrucci I hear you ask? Well, he has recently signed for the mighty CFR Cluj of Romania.
Hardly the stuff of comic hero Roy Of The Rovers.
In contrast, some ‘kids’ who have stayed in the Peninsula have had markedly different fortunes and not of the monetary kind.
Stefan El Shaarawy may seem like he has been around for a long time yet is still only 22. Domenico Berardi, only 20, is one of the stars of Sassuolo, and the ever impressive centre back Daniele Rugani, also 20, of Empoli is a mainstay at his current club.
The list goes on, 22-year-old Marco Sportiello of Atalanta, Andrea Belotti (20) of Palermo, prospects who have remained patient and are now being rewarded with high profile game time.
And at the time of writing, it has been announced that Robert Mancini called up eight players from his Primavera side to be involved in their impending Europa League tie.
So, Gianluca, do not fall into the trap of your predecessors who tried fame and fortune elsewhere but came back with pockets full of regret.
Remain a Romanista and if you truly are good enough, the bright lights will shine, eventually.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBY0x4T-nK0[/youtube]
Follow Enzo on Twitter: @enzom_fif