GdS: ‘Camarda time’ – Fonseca strongly tempted to give striker second start vs. Verona

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·18 December 2024

GdS: ‘Camarda time’ – Fonseca strongly tempted to give striker second start vs. Verona

AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca is seriously considering starting Francesco Camarda against Hellas Verona on Friday, a report claims.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Milan had the youngest team in the league on the pitch against Genoa with an average age of 24 years and 258 days. Over a year and a half ago against Cremonese they fielded a side that had an average age of 24 years and 165 days.

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If the glorious past seems like a distant memory after the 125th anniversary celebrations, the goal is to write new pages in the future with home-grown talents. This is good news for Camarda, who wasn’t a starter against Genoa, so he couldn’t further lower the average age of the XI.

Fifteen minutes into the second half he came off the bench. Tammy Abraham had gone off at half-time due to a physical problem and Morata was clearly having an off night, with Camarda raising the volume from the fans pushing him for that first goal.

Hunger and desire

Camarda does everything the coach asks: he presses the goalkeeper and the opposing defenders, he fights for every ball and has the quality to be dangerous in the area. Against Red Star in the Champions League for example his header led to Abraham’s winner.

Now all that’s missing is his first goal with the big boys, but he needs service. Against Genoa he ran for a ball that seemed destined for a goal kick and hooked it back into the box, but at that point he was no longer inside the area ready to exploit his incredible sense for goal.

Francesco was the youngest debutant in the entire history of Serie A, a record set on 25 November 2023 when he came on at 15 years, 8 months and 15 days against Fiorentina. He started against Cagliari a few weeks ago at the age of 16 years and 244 days.

By scoring, Camarda could anticipate Roberto Mancini and Renato Buso, who scored at 16 years and 10 months. In the Champions League, however, Ansu Fati holds the record with a goal at San Siro against Inter when he was 17 years and 40 days, so there is still time.

Milan future

These are records and attention that Camarda has shown he can handle, also thanks to the protection of the club, his family and his agents. When he replaced the other Futuro star Mattia Liberali on Sunday, Camarda seemed like a veteran.

He moves with ease, without fear or consideration. He needs more time to score, maybe an entire match and not just simple snippets, and he might just get that on Friday at the Stadio Bentegodi.

Morata and Abraham are available but they are both in difficulty with regards to form. Camarda can play carefree and strong in the support of the crowd, hoping to show some of the wisdom he got from Pippo Inzaghi and Marco van Basten whom he spoke with at the weekend.

The Futuro may have been created to help players like Camarda but at the moment it is a valuable reservoir of new talents and he is needed now, in the present.