Manchester United has just completed the signing of Amad Diallo Traore from Atalanta, but the Ivorian would have been a Juventus player instead if things had turned out differently.
He is one of the most exciting teenage wingers in Europe at the moment, and the Red Devils are lucky to have landed him.
However, the president of his childhood Italian club, Boca Barco, Enzo Guerri has just revealed that Juventus gave him three trials before he would join Atalanta.
He was 13 when he started playing for Barco and his performances drew scouts from all over the country.
Juventus, being the top team in the country, was afforded the chance to sign him if he passed his trials with them.
But it seems that in three trials, he couldn’t convince the coaches of the Bianconeri that he would be worth having in their youth team.
Juve had to act and sign him else another team would do, and that was exactly what happened as Atalanta pipped them to his signature, and he is now a United player.
“Diallo started out in our youth team, from 2014 to 2015, when he was 12 to 13 years old, and even then you could tell he had something more than the others,” President Enzo Guerri told Tuttomercatoweb as quoted by Football Italia.
“Atalanta certainly weren’t the only club to set their sights on him. There was a queue of scouts coming to view him from all over Italy.
“Amad had three trials in Turin with Juve, just as he was called in by Reggiana, Sassuolo, Empoli, Roma and of course Atalanta.
“I remember a Roma scout came to view him, and after five minutes when Diallo chested down the ball to continue his run, the scout turned around and left. I asked him what was going on and he replied: ‘Only potential champions do that at the age of 12. Seeing him in this game won’t help, he has to train with our kids at Roma.’
“However, from the first day, Atalanta had him training with those a year older than him. Amad was always destined for greatness.
“He had trials with everyone until he found the right club for the big step in his career. Atalanta are something of an exception in Italian football, as very few clubs here are prepared to put their faith in young players.”
