Alessandro Costacurta believes that Francesco Camarda could stay with the AC Milan senior team for next season and not necessarily play in the U23 team.
Camarda might just be the most talked about 16-year-old in Italian football given his ridiculous goal scoring record with Milan’s youth teams and the fact he has continued those promising signs through the ranks.
There is certainly a romance to the story because Camarda is a Milanista and has been spotted in the Curva Sud before, but with this there is some pressure on Milan to manage his development the right way, perhaps with a promotion to the U23 team first.
As we reported first, Milan will take their place in Serie C with a new second team that aims to create a pool of 50-55 players that can move between the first team and the second team. The overall investment for the club is €12m, and a lot of the current Primavera stars will move up.
Costacurta was interviewed by Sportweek and he was asked about the possibility of Camarda playing in Serie C with Milan’s second team next season, with his comments relayed by Radio Rossonera.
“He is so young that he has an evolution ahead of him that will last years. And an evolution, by its nature, is unpredictable: it can lead to an improvement, but it can also, upon completion, make no progress, leaving you as you were, or even lead to a worsening,” he said.
“Seeing Camarda now, how he plays against opponents two or three years older than him, the thought is that he really can have a bright future. I follow youth football a lot, and I repeat: I’ve never seen someone so strong at his age. Never seen it.
“What strikes me about him? Movements outside and inside the area. He has a strong ability to free himself from his marker. It’s something you have inside, no one can teach you. It’s pure instinct. I’ve seen few like him, moving away from the defender in the penalty area with just a body movement. Pippo Inzaghi comes to mind.
“But let’s also look at the first of the two goals scored against Portugal in the U17 European Championship final: in that solo goal, in which he starts from the left, cuts inside, beats the man twice and goes on to score, Camarda shows everything. Movement without the ball, technique, but above all clarity.
“The U23s of Juve and Atalanta have shown that, in that size and category, young people can grow. It will be the same for the Milan boys. Camarda could still make the Primavera, but I think that, if he continues like this, within a year and a half or two he will be able and will have to play in Serie A.
“But, in my opinion, he can already be in the orbit of the first squad. I’m not saying as a starter, but behind the designated ‘9’, he can fit in well. When the other guy isn’t there, he plays.”
Get him in
I agree with Costacurta wholeheartedly, Laminate Yamal is the same age if not younger and I think on a physical level Camarda is bigger and stronger, i think he should have even been called up for the international team.
This is not years gone by when younger players could be bullied off the pitch, the way fouls are interpreted and VAR have changed all that, in most teams the best players are 19 – 21, you see this in nearly every team look at Germany and Spain and Brazil.
My only concern with Carmada is we should have signed him to a longer contract or had a clause to extend by 2 years (similar to what ManU under Sir Alex would do)
Yeah the only things which annoying is injury prone and body balance attributes. If he can manage those, it would be great
Mostly German and Spain team have second team in lower division its a different situation for Italian team
A person with the credibility of Costacurta would not make such a remark unless he was certain of it and given his knowledge of the game, both from a playing and analysing perspective he would be spot on.
I take your point about the B teams, but Yamal is 16 and I strongly feel that Camarda is his level
3 years is maximum possible contract that 16 years old can sign
One must trust Billy’s assessment. He obviously knows his business. That said, Forza Camarda!
Patience, Billy. A couple of years time, maybe. But not now.