Mattia Liberali generated plenty of excitement with his performances during the preseason tour of the USA, but since that he has returned to working with Milan Futuro.
Calciomercato.com report that as is the case with Francesco Camarda, Kevin Zeroli and Alex Jimenez, Milan have planned a gradual growth path for Liberali, passing from the ‘obligatory’ stage of the experience in Serie C but with the long-term goal of becoming a resource for the first team.
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In truth he seems to be a good fit for Paulo Fonseca’s ideas, which are built around dominating games with possession and also the inclusion of a pure attacking midfielder who can create and supply the other forwards.
However, the flip side is that Liberali has no goals and no assists in five appearances with the Futuro team coached by Daniele Bonera, only three of which have been starts. The team in general are struggling and perhaps due to a lack of size, which has not helped the 16-year-old.
In the meantime, the interest in Franco Mastantuono of River Plate must be noted. He is an equally promising player but has already had regular first team minutes and is in the sights of several European big clubs, Real Madrid first and foremost.
This makes his valuation around €30-40m, but fans will rightly ask why Milan would spend that much when they have a similar talent at home. After winning the European Under 17 Championship, Liberali is also consolidating his position in the Italy Under 19 team.
He made two appearances against Wales in recent days, leaving his mark both in the first games – a goal and an assist – and in the second, in which he found the net despite coming off the bench.
With the Azzurini he does nothing but confirm that he possesses qualities and talent that must be nurtured, and Milan intend to do exactly that.
Franco Mastantuono wont turn 18 years old until Aug 14th 2025 so he wouldn’t be able to join us before that date and AC Milan simply isn’t gonna fork up 30-40 mil let alone long before he would be able to join us as a lot of things can happen in the meantime.
He will end up in Madrid, City or Chelsea, PSG or a club like those who has the willingness to invest fairly big amounts on youth players.
If Liberali played for River Plate he’ll probably be worth €30m but right now he’s not worth even €1m. What does that tell you? Well it doesn’t tell of our incompetence in developing players but rather the discrepancy in expectation. Not much is expected of River Plate so they can afford to play that kid and develop him but over here at Milan the expectations are crazy so we can’t afford to gamble on a kid no matter how good he is. They’ll always go for experience. Can’t really blame anyone though. It is what it is.
Well even though I think that it’s easier for young players to break through at a young age in Argentina and in general South America compared to Serie A I think a club like River Plate has very high expectations from its fans as its to my knowledge the argentine club with the most championships. I did look up the club and I can see its the club with the highest average attendance of any association club in 2023 at 84,567 pr. match which means full stadium all season. They also has some pretty crazy fans on top of it so think its a truth with modifications.
Re “Not much is expected of River Plate so they can afford to play that kid”
Sorry that is hilarious!
Sure South American football is on a different economic scale to Europe.
But River Plate are our equivalent before the banter era.
Expected to challenge for the domestic titles and the Copa Libertadores every season.
Playing in front of 80000 fans every home game.
A history just as rich as AC Milan.
A derby with Boca that is as fierce as Real v Barca or the Rome derby.
Not sure if you listen to The Italian Football podcast.
But I think you just won “serie arse of the week”.
The futuro numbers are irrelevant in my opinion. They are a team of kids playing adults. If you’d put the class of 92 against a o full premier league team they have been the same. The clever bit is bringing Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt and Beckham into the first team alongside the likes of Cantona, Bruce, Pallister, Ince and Schmeichel….leaders…. We should be looking to introduce these lads into the first team bit by bit, they also need strong professionals around them
“However, the flip side is that Liberali has no goals and no assists in five appearances with the Futuro team”
Well, duh. Of course he isn’t doing well while playing against grown men in Serie C. He does a lot better when he plays against people his own age, with the Azzurrini.
People need to stop advocating for bringing these very young players immediately to the first team. If they can’t do well in Serie C, they will do even worse in Serie A.
Let them develop in peace. They are still too young, lack size and muscle mass, and are not ready for Serie A.
Yes and no, they will be surrounded by adult teammates in Serie A. Remember Michael Owen’s debut? He looked about 12….it’s about giving them minutes in the right games at the right time…
Not necessarily. See Endrick. When he plays for the Brazilian national team, he accomplishes almost nothing and is easily bumped to the ground by big defenders; and he actually looks physically stronger to me than Liberali and Camarda. And he’s actually 18 now; still not fully ready (Ancelotti agrees and has declared the same). Camarda is 16, Liberali is 17. They are still too young. I’m not against giving them 10 minutes at the end of a game we’re leading 4-0, every several weeks; but no more than this.
There are exceptions like Yamal, but he’s a one-in-a-generation exception. Sorry but although they have great potential, Liberali and Camarda are no Yamal. At least, not yet.
Zeroli and Bartesaghi seem a bit readier; mainly the former. But see, about the latter:
People say they need experience to build up confidence. Well, Bartesaghi being expelled 5 minutes after he was subbed in after a naive tackle and leaving the pitch in tears did wonderfully for his self-confidence. Oh wait, it didn’t!
I agree with what you say, coppa games, 20 mins against relegation teams. The Bartesaghi red card was farce though. He and Zeroli seem more ready for sure.
Incompetent management and scout group that doesn’t cherish their home grown.
Other big teams in Europe sells their own talented academy players at highest cost but not Milan… always cheapest team to chop from. Devalued their own players.
Imagine Liberali playing for Barcelona or Manchester City
The same management you are berating got Milan Futuro established and registered in Serie C precisely to allow these great youngsters lots of playing time against challenging competition (grown professional men) so that they develop under less pressure than being under the microscope in Serie A, which is the right thing to do, rather than burning them in Serie A (see what happened to Bartesaghi last time he was given an opportunity with the first team).
Liberali would not be playing for Barcelona’s or City’s first teams, simply because although he has great potential and I’m very excited about him, he is not ready yet.
Go watch some Milan Futuro games and you’ll understand what I mean. I watched two of them. My verdict: not ready. And that’s Série C!!! Do you actually think he’d be playing for two of the greatest first teams in the world in La Liga and the EPL???
People have such unrealistic expectations! And that’s how you derail the peaceful development of these youth players: by prematurely putting too much expectation on their shoulders.
You may say “but Barcelona” has Yamal!” Well, Yamal is ready but he’s the exception, not the rule. Yamal is one-in-a-generation. Those only come by a few decades apart.
Yea management have alot of flaws but setting up the Futuro isn’t one of them. They must be lauded for it. Also I agree with your posts above. Been saying that these are kids, the odd game or sub into a game is good. Maybe we need a fourth meaningless cup like in the EPL 😂😂😂 so we can play the kids like Fergie did.
Exactly right. Milan has invested 40 M into Milan Futuro including signing players, reforming a stadium, creating and registering the team, and there are just two other teams that have done that: Juve and Atalanta. Not even Inter have that.
Yes, our managers are terrible in several ways, but Futuro and the push to build and own our own stadium are actually long-term assets that will help Milan for years and decades and for these initiatives they need to be commended.
Btw. He is 17, not 16.
Liberali is 17, too young to play for the first team. Yeah, Yamal already does, but he is a generational talent. On the other hand, Zeroli is 19 years old, so he is supposed to be ready to play for the first team, at least as a rotation/backup option. If he is not ready at that age, either Milan do not know how to manage him or he is not Milan-worthy. Same with Jimenez who also is 19.
When the coach is Bonera, you expect the kids to learn anything? No chance, Bonera does not have a football brain.
Move out of seria A asap for better growth. Most of the clubs in seria don’t trust youngsters.
Liberali is a better than many in current first team but…..