Jean-Luca Mascaro (@CalcioNews89)
With Gigi Buffon aging like good Italian wine, not many people are talking of his possible successor but we have seen many convincing performances this season by young Italian keepers in the Serie A. The most surprising and impressive new name has to be Milan’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma who made his debut on October 25, 2015 at the young age of 16, replacing previous starter Diego Lopez.
By doing so, Donnarumma became the youngest goalkeeper ever to start a game in the Italian Serie A (16 years old and 8 months) This was a bold decision by coach Sinisa Mihajlovic and one that could benefit Milan for the next 15 years. The teenage goalkeeper proved his worth by racking up an impressive 11 clean sheets in 30 appearances, something that only veteran star Gigi Buffon was able to beat in that period of time.
Donnarumma only conceded 26 goals in his first campaign as Milan goaltender, which is very impressive for his age and is even more so considering Milan’s shaky defense. Other than his clear physical capacities, what is even more impressive is his leadership skills at such a young age. As a consequence of his solid performances, Donnarumma was called up to the Italy Under 21, becoming the youngest player ever to feature at the U21 level for Italy and nearly made Antonio Conte’s Italian team roster.
Another young player who developed well this season for Milan is Alessio Romagnoli. Unlike Donnarumma, Romagnoli did not come from Milan’s youth squad as he was signed from Roma for 25 million euros and thus had a lot of pressure to perform. He settled in pretty well at Milan, being the most used center back this past season for the rossoneri.
Romagnoli was Milan’s leader in defense and to his credit, he often had to play with a different partner which did not help him. Even so, his skill set was noticeable and he clearly grew as the season went on. Throughout the season he showed good skills at passing the ball, he also excelled in aerial duels. He is a very elegant style of defender and provided stability at the back for Milan, something they did not have since the Nesta and Thiago Silva days.
Niang was another youngster who really showed nice things for Milan this year scoring many important goals and creating many dangerous plays, before suffering a serious injury. He really learnt a lot and developed during his loan to Genoa the previous season
Niang finished off the season with 8 goals in only 17 games in all competitions but his injury really came at a bad time. The rossoneri were having great success at that moment and after he was sidelined for months, Milan’s form dipped. He received many offers from EPL teams last winter and again this summer. It will be up to Milan to decide whether to keep him or not.
Other young Milan players who saw a bit of action late in this season were Davide Calabria and José Mauri but in both cases, they did not play enough to leave a mark. Even so, both are good talents who need playing time to develop and gain confidence.
Donnarumma, Romagnoli and Niang are the proof that you can have success building a team with young players if you give it a chance, and if you are patient enough to let these youngsters develop. In the best case scenario, teams should have a good combo of youngsters and veterans who are capable of helping the youngsters grow within the squad. This is something Milan should focus on in the future.
