After the brain drain, Italy risks foot drain. Those of the young promises of our football, on which various (and munificent) European teams have their eyes, especially from the Premier League. After all, the hunt for precocious talent is becoming increasingly fierce: according to Cies, the international observatory for football in Neuchatel, in 1995 under 18 footballers who emigrated to the five main European leagues (Italy, England, France, Spain and Germany ) were 51, while in 2016 there were 195, four times as many.
The most popular among young Italian footballers is certainly Gigio Donnarumma, who will turn 18 on 25 February and will therefore be able to sign a three-year longer contract with Milan. In his case, however, there is no risk that a foreign team will be able to take him away with little money: Buffon's designated heir is already worth a fortune.
It's a different matter for the other baby phenomena that populate our Championship. To begin Moses Kean: plays for Juve, has Mino Raiola as agent and was the first born in the 2000s to make his debut in Serie A and score in the Champions League. His price tag is certainly not cheap for a player of his age, but the English sirens already see him as a possible millionaire deal.
The youngest ever is though Peter Pellegri, Genoa striker, who broke all records by making his Serie A debut at just 15 years and 280 days old. In theory, he would even be too young, given that an Italian footballer can only go abroad after turning 16. In that case, however, the landing club would only pay the Fifa parameter, which is around 200 thousand euros, so Genoa should definitely open an auction on the Italian market.
Then, there is Alessandro plizzari, another AC Milan goalkeeper who, according to Silvio Berlusconi, is "worth Donnarumma", but will certainly struggle to find space in the Rossoneri. Young, strong and still little known - it could be the real deal. Not surprisingly, the spotlights of Manchester City are already focused on him.
