With Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik both out with respective injuries, Juventus manager Max Allegri made up for the attacking deficit by calling up Tommaso Mancini for the away fixture against Atalanta.
So who is the 19-year-old whose name appears on the senior team’s matchday squad for the very first team?
As ilBianconero details, the Italian became the youngest player to feature in a Serie B fixture. In January 2021, he made his debut in the second flight aged 16 years and 162 days.
The striker rose through the ranks of Vicenza, scoring more than 70 goals for the club’s various age groups.
In the summer of 2022, Juventus paid 2.5 million euros to secure his signature. However, the Old Lady wasn’t his only suitor.
As the source reveals, Sevilla, Benfica and Milan all wanted Mancini. Even Liverpool were closely monitoring the youngster. However, they couldn’t convince him to leave the Italian peninsula at this tender age.
Last season, he joined Paolo Montero’s ranks in the Juventus Primavera. He initially struggled to make an impact, but eventually found his footing. He ended the campaign with 12 goals and five assists in 34 appearances.
This season, he received a promotion to Massimo Brambilla’s Juventus Next Gen squad. He has thus far made four brief cameos in Serie C.
While it might be a stretch at this point, some have compared Mancini to the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to his physical frame, strong character and passion for martial arts.
We shall see if Allegri would hand him his Serie A debut at some stage during the Bergamo clash.
