Il Secolo XIX: Milan in four-team race to sign teenager from Sampdoria | OneFootball

There are a number of top Italian clubs that are keen on signing Giovanni Leoni and AC Milan have been credited with interest by a report today.

According to Il Secolo XIX (via Calciomercato.com), the race for Leoni is on. The 17-year-old may have gone under the radar given he plays in Serie B with Sampdoria but he immediately established himself as the jewel of Andrea Pirlo’s team.

He only arrived in Liguria from Padova in January but Samp saw enough to buy him permanently for €1.5m, also presuming that there would be a queue for the young defender, and it seems at the moment that they were right.

Il Secolo XIX reports how a battle has broken out between the big Italian teams over Leoni as Napoli, Juventus, Milan and Inter have made moves, with Sampdoria wanting to cash in on his sale and, above all, wanting to keep the player on loan for another year.

Yesterday, agent Edoardo Crnjar was spotted at the Nerazzurri’s headquarters suggesting Inter are serious, but in the meantime Leoni is trying to keep focus on the Italy Under 19 side having been called up by Bernardo Corradi for the second pre-European Championship camp in Northern Ireland.

Milan are showing a willingness to invest in the future and their Milan Futuro project, as Gabriele Minotti is currently undergoing a medical and he will join the U23 team from Giana Erminio.