Tribalfootball.com's Italian football expert Matteo Vitale runs his eye over the young talent breaking through in Serie A and nominates seven players fans should watch for in 2024...
Serie A is not a rich league, in any sense, starting from that of the TV rights, which is why it is difficult for clubs to invest in so-called B teams.
One in particular has done so and that is Juventus, which has already pulled out several top-notch talents from its Next Gen team, among which Matías Soulé undoubtedly stands out. The Argentinean has been one of the best players in the first part of the season in Serie A and with the Frosinone jersey he has already collected 8 goals and 1 assist, also turning out to be the player with the most successful dribbles in the league and among the players to have scored 7 goals in the first five European leagues only Jude Bellingham (yes, the Real Madrid star) is younger than him.
Juventus' work is already paying off, and surely Soulé is the best talent in Italian soccer: already a leader at his young age, his future seems to promise great things. Credit also goes to Eusebio Di Francesco, who is developing him in the best way possible, without restraining him with ultra defensive and conservative chores. A lot of teams have already shown their interest towards Soulé, but Max Allegri seems convinced that he will be able to keep benefiting from the Argentine's qualities. He is already mature, is humble and loyal to his roots, that's why he said that in any case he will be waiting for Argentina, saying "no" to Luciano Spalletti and the Italian National Team.
Another young talent who has been showing off since his debut is Empoli star Tommaso Baldanzi, who despite a few too many physical problems this year has still managed to show flashes of talent and class. There are the eyes of several of Serie A's top teams on him, but now he must first and foremost continue to make a difference with Empoli, with the goal of avoiding relegation for the Tuscan club. He has been struggling physically, as already said, but in the last weeks he seemed to have regained his good condition and that will allow him to lead his teammates with his technical quality.
He has not bloomed this year, as he made the difference in the Europa League semi finals last year, but Edoardo Bove is for all intents and purposes one of the best U23s in Serie A. The Roman midfielder has slowly become more and more important for Roma, and now is pushing for a regular place in the starting lineup (he was named m.v.p. against Atalanta too). The intensity and pace he can bring to the team's service are unique in the squad, and today Bove is almost a Roma starter. Spalletti, the Italy coach, has called him "a certainty," and at this point a call-up for the national team seems only a matter of time. Another Roman and Romanista who is leading the way in a Roma jersey: there's nothing more "Romanista" than a young footballer growing in that jersey and finally becoming an important player for Roma.
Perhaps only one other U23 in Serie A has managed to do better than Soulé so far and that is Joshua Zirkzee, a top talent formerly of Bayern Munich, star of Bologna and already with 8 goals and 4 assists in the league. Quality, technique, game vision: the Dutchman has everything it takes to become an absolute champion. Sometimes he reminds us of legends that we won't name, but his style of play is really unique.
If it is still possible to find a flaw, and one must make an effort because we are talking about a decisive and pragmatic player who's also beautiful to watch, it is that sometimes he is too aware of his talent and he ends up being overconfident, knowing that he is of superior quality. The certain thing, however, is that Zirkzee is destined for great stages and top clubs. It depends on him.
Lorenzo Lucca's start to the season was not easy, in fact just the opposite. The young Udinese striker could in no way find the goal and the legacy was grave, as he had to replace a player like Beto, who was sold to Everton. As the games went on, the goals came and the confidence increased and now we are finally seeing the potential of this young striker. In the 21 games played so far Lucca has scored 7 goals, 6 in Serie A. That of the striker is a delicate role, often taking a long time to blossom, but here are all the prerequisites to dream of a champion future.
This is not really a surprise name, or at least not anymore, since Malick Thiaw has already played with the Germany jersey and has ended up on the notebooks of big European clubs ahead of next summer, but keeping him out of this list would not have been fair, even if he is currently injured, because Thiaw has already shown that he has all the characteristics that now distinguish "top" defenders. This season has not been particularly lucky, as injury is slowing his growth, but the defender during October had been linked with Real Madrid and after the injury he can start showing why again Milan is waiting for him; they need him.
Again, we are not exactly talking about an unknown name, quite the contrary. By now Giorgio Scalvini is playing with Italy, he is a starter for Atalanta, and Gian Piero Gasperini already considers him among the most experienced players on the team, calling him "a senior member." All true, but Scalvini was born in 2003 and is just 20 years old. And if we think about his age we understand the greatness of his talent. A central defender who has shown that he can also play in front of the defence, with good results: he is not particularly fast, but he has an excellent sense of positioning and tackling, he is not at all afraid to play the ball, in fact, the opposite, he never hides himself. Probably, barring unexpected developments, which of course no one hopes for, we are talking about the future of the defence of the Italian national team. Such young and complete defenders are gold dust.
Several other profiles would have deserved a mention, one above all Enzo Barrenechea (one of Frosinone's leaders), but also Monza's Andrea Carboni, Kenan Yildiz, Mchael Kayode (now a Fiorentina starter), Matteo Prati, Fabio Miretti...in short, it probably happened out of necessity and not strategy, but the future of Serie A looks bright.
