AC Milan will get an up-close look at Nino Marcelli tonight, a Slovan Bratislava talent that they are keeping an eye on.
As Calciomercato.com report, the spotlight will be on former midfielder Juraj Kucka tonight of course, but above all on Marcelli. The 19-year-old winger is one of the players that the Rossoneri are observing in the European panorama, and their CEO Ivan Kmotrík revealed something interesting.
“It’s true, there were negotiations with Milan, but no agreement was reached. Our needs differed from their ideas and we did not agree on the terms,” he said. Sources close to the club report that Slovan refused €5m to sell, and that he is also being watched by Sparta and Slavia Prague.
Despite his young age, Marcelli is already a key player in his team. This season he has put together 26 appearances (10 starts) with two goals and five assists across all competitions. He also boasts four appearances in this edition of the Champions League with 108 minutes played.
Marcelli made his first team debut on 19 July 2023 in a Champions League qualifying match against Swift Hesperange. Last season he exceeded double figures in goals scored in all competitions and he has Italian origins, as his surname indicates.
When he was 16 years old he was offered a trial by Roma but he suffered a muscle injury that seriously put his career at risk. He recovered but often ran into new problems that slowed his growth, as coach Vladimír Weiss alluded to.
“If he had always been in good health, perhaps he would no longer be at Slovan. He still has fluctuations in performance, which is normal at his age,” he said.
“He is talented, but he needs to grow further. And above all, play regularly. He is dynamic, the fans are right to expect a lot from him. He could be the star of Slovan Bratislava.”
Marcelli has been playing regularly with the Slovakian U21s since he was 18 and should be among the stars for them at the next European Championship in that age group. He has been at Slovan since he was nine and he is spoken of as one of the best talents of his generation.
His sworn enemies, until now, have been the muscular problems that have slowed him down for almost two years. Milan will get a chance to observe first hand tonight, and who knows what can come from that, as the Jens Petter Hauge case shows.
He just scored a crazy one.