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Who Is This 16-Year Old Italian Prodigy That Chelsea Are Chasing? Everything You Need To Know

Pietro Pellegri

Pietro Pellegri – Scout Report

If you break an 84-year old record in the Serie A, you are bound to command interest from football fans across the world. If you do that with as much style and aplomb as Pietro Pellegri did last weekend, it will not be unnatural for clubs like Juventus and Manchester United to come calling. Chelsea are the club who have been linked with him recently though.

The teenage striker from Genoa is being touted as the next big thing in Italian football after he came on to score a brace against Lazio, thus becoming the youngest player ever to do so. The record was previously held by Silvio Piola who scored two in a game way back in 1931, at the age of 17 years and 104 days, but Pellegri beat him comfortably by doing the same feat at 16 years and 112 days.

Player Profile

Born on 17th March 2001, Pietro was born and raised in Genoa and has been with their academy since 2008. At 15 years and 280 days, he made his first-team debut for the side in a 1-0 away loss to Torino, equalling the record of Amedeo Amadi in the process. His first strike came against AS Roma on 28th May, which made him the first millennial to score a goal in the Serie A. As of now, he has scored 3 goals in 131 minutes of football with a 100% shot accuracy.

Strengths

Although we have not seen a lot of him, Pellegri’s height (188cm) and weight(78 kg) lend him quite the upper body strength and he is already a handful to deal with. A prodigy in every sense of the word, the starlet also has an extremely powerful shot and is decent on the ball. His first ever goal was against Szczesny, for which he fought off the powerful Manolas and then snuck it through the near post – not an easy thing to do for someone so young and inexperienced.

Weakness

With so few appearances, it is hard to judge exactly what he lacks. However, it is absolutely certain that he has to learn how to integrate better with the team and not play the isolated game. The youngster also has to work on the technical aspect of his game, including his short-range passing and movements. He has started well but he has miles to go before he can claim to be one of the best in the world.

Future

According to most Italian media outlets, Pellegri is set for a move to either Inter Milan or AC Milan in 2019. The timing would suit him well as that would help him to stay and learn the tricks of the trade with Genoa where his dad is currently the team manager. However, if he does sign for Chelsea or any other English club, he would be better off by mobving back to his birthplace on a loan and continue his growth.