While Francesco Camarda and Mattia Liberali grab the headlines in terms of AC Milan talents, Christian Comotto is quietly forging an impressive path.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall that Comotto is the son of Gianluca, a full-back with over 270 appearances in Serie A, so it was perhaps always natural he would follow in his father’s footsteps. He has become the wild card of the Milan Primavera midfield, and he is scoring important goals.
A few days ago he scored his first goal with the U19 team against Cremonese, on Tuesday in the UEFA Youth League he provided the assist for Ossola’s equaliser against Club Brugge, which came right at the end.
Comotto was born in 2008, like Camarda. The two came through the youth teams together but while Francesco has already come close to scoring his first goal in the Champions League, Comotto is a couple of rungs lower.
Nonetheless, he is 16 years old and is the only 2008-born starter in the Primavera. Until a few years ago he was considered to be behind in his growth compared to his team-mates, then with the Under 17s he scored 14 goals in 23 games playing as a playmaker and as a mezzala.
The Primavera head coach Federico Guidi is deploying him as box-to-box player on the left in the 4-3-3. Christian is technical, elegant when he gets on the ball and intelligent in creating spaces – all the hallmarks of someone with a future in that role.
Family was fundamental in Comotto’s journey. His mother is Marianna Mecacci, a successful sports manager with a past at Inter and Milan. She currently works at the Gr Sports agency in close contact with Giuseppe Riso.
Comotto is very close to his father: he has accompanied him at every moment of his career. When his dad was at Fiorentina, he was waiting for him to finish training so he could play for hours and hours on the pitches behind the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
They were always together at the training ground and never missed a match at the stadium. When Comotto Sr. said goodbye to football in 2016, little Christian was there. He entered the field hand in hand with Gianluca, watching the fans singing and applauding.
Christian didn’t become a defender like his father, on the contrary he has always scored goals. At 11, during a tournament played with Fiorentina, he was awarded top scorer together with Camarda. They became great friends, but as children they were opponents.
In that competition Comotto challenged his friend Camarda’s Milan in the final. The midfielder also had a brief stint at Inter before joining La Viola, while he has been at Milan since 2020. He has played and scored in all categories: with the U15s he scored 18 goals.
Last year he made his debut in the Youth League at 15 years and 7 months. Ignazio Abate sent him onto the field in the second half of the match against Newcastle at Whitley Park, on a ruined and muddy pitch, and he managed to do well despite the defeat.
At the end of the match he said hello to Sandro Tonali, who he struck up a ‘brotherly relationship’ with. Comotto’s idol has always been Cristiano Ronaldo and he even met him when CR7 was at Juventus.
As a child he celebrated every goal that the Portuguese icon scored. Now he dreams of becoming a champion like him. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paulo Fonseca are keeping an eye on him and he signed a professional deal in July, San Siro is waiting for him. Another Comotto could soon arrive in Serie A.
