From Serie C to the Italy national team: charting the tale of Verona’s Michael Folorunsho | OneFootball

Serie A has already witnessed many pleasing tales of players emerging from the lower divisions of the Italian football pyramid and achieving great heights and it has got another one of those.

Verona star Michael Folorunsho earned a call-up to the Italian national team earlier today and his story is also somewhat similar. The Nigerian-descent Italian has impressed for the Gialloblu this season, scoring four times from the midfield and his goal against Juventus will be remember for a long time.

But back in 2017, the midfielder was then playing in Serie C at Virtus Francavilla, where he stayed for a couple of seasons and scored eight times. Napoli did sign him in 2019 on a permanent deal but he was constantly loaned out by the Partenopei and it started with a stint at another one of Aurelio de Laurentiis’ clubs in Bari in the 2019/20 season. He was then loaned out to Serie B side Reggina and he then had two more loan stints in the second division, where he became a reliable player for Pordenone and again for both Bari and Reggina.

He also helped Bari reach the Serie B play-offs last season, but the Galetti couldn’t earn promotion. A deserved a loan move to Verona followed and it has been smooth sailing since. But Folorunsho’s story is one of struggle and it is one that we have seen many times in Serie A.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN