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Top five Juventus Youngsters ready to make the step up to Serie A

Juventus enter yet another Serie A campaign as champions. Having based their success around consistency, the Bianconeri have spent the last few years honing a group of players who are largely in 25 and over, with a few notable exceptions such as Paul Pogba.

New coach Massimiliano Allegri will undoubtedly bring a different approach to the side, and should he choose to introduce some of the younger recruits to add to the current squad, he has a fine crop to choose from.

Sergio Buenacasa (Striker, 18 years old)

There are few phrases as likely to allow a young player to impress his potential as “Barcelona youth product.” The young Spaniard was plucked from La Masia by Juventus as they looked to increase their striking options. He may be tall for a player who came through the famed academy, at 1.82m, but his is very much of the Blaugrana mould with ability on the ball to match that reputation.

Alarm bells might have sounded after hearing him compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but those rather spurious claims seem to have been based around the more grounded aspects of the Swede’s game – his aerial ability, his predatory nature in the box, and the power he can generate when he shoots.

Buenacasa’s goalscoring slowed a little after his move to Juventus, but his size and willingness to work for the team mean he may well find himself drafted in as a replacement in the first team sooner rather than later. With Quagliarella no longer at the club, the forward pecking order is getting shorter, and Buenacasa is moving towards the head of the queue.

Elvis Kabashi (Midfielder, 20 years old)

One of a growing number of Albanian youngsters who are impressing in European football, Kabashi looks set for a big step up. The versatile midfielder joined the Bianconeri from Empoli, having impressed in the Azzurri’s Primavera side, and went on to quickly prove himself in the black and white shirt as well.

Although the pacey Albanian can be deployed as a winger, it is uncertain as to whether his best position is wide or central. The Bianconeri’s strength in the middle of the park suggests if he is to make an impact this season, it will be in a wide position.

Having enjoyed a full Primavera campaign and made a couple of Serie B appearances for Empoli, he has done enough to earn his place in Allegri’s thoughts for the coming season should he need a wild card to bring off the bench.

Federico Mattiello (Midfielder, 19 years old)

Another versatile midfielder, Mattiello has been working his way up through both Juventus’ and Italy’s youth levels, gaining rave reviews on the way. The former Italian Under 12 Tennis Champion has translated his skills from the court to the field, excelling in short, sharp bursts of speed that take him from the middle of the park into the box, making him a goal threat as well as instinctively creative — the ability to read the angles needed to strike a ball being a fundamental tenet of both tennis and football.

Being able to play on both the left and right side is increasingly becoming a requirement as formations grow to be more fluid, and Mattiello has shown he can perform anywhere across the park in his time in the Primavera side, as well as having spent a little time as a second striker.

That range will stand him in good stead as he looks to add to his couple of appearances on the bench last season — the more positions you can fill, it stands to reason, the more use you are as a back-up — and with Allegri known for his willingness to bring in youth prospects, there are few brighter than Mattiello.

Mattia Vitale (Midfielder, 16 years old)

Mattia Vitale’s reputation has gone before him during his time with the Bianconeri. Long regarded as one of the hottest prospects at the club, he was taken on the Far Eastern tour with Allegri’s team, and even managed to log some game time, suggesting that he might be under consideration for at least a role as a reserve during the Serie A campaign to come.

16 year old midfielder Vitale joined Juventus from his hometown side of Bologna a couple of years ago, and after spending time in the Allievi, he is yet to even play for the Primavera side. However, with Allegri fast-tracking him to the first team for the recent tour, he has clearly made an impression on his new coach.

He still has much to learn, and much developing to do, but his performance in the friendly against Singapore was encouraging, looking as much a part of the midfield as either Pogba or Pirlo who played alongside him.

It would be a surprise if Vitale was a regular in Allegri’s squads this season, but he has obviously been doing something right; he has a big future ahead of him.

Emil Audero (Goalkeeper, 17 years old)

For many years, it has seemed sacrilegious to talk about a successor to Gianluigi Buffon in the Juventus goal. With the veteran stopper now 36 years of age however, facts have to be faced.

Buffon is demonstrably still a worthy first choice in the Juventus team, but his increasing seniority has led to him accumulating more injuries — such as those that kept him out of Italy’s World Cup side this summer.

While Marco Storari is the second choice his understudy, half-Indonesian Audero, is waiting in the wings should Storari or Rubinho go down injured – the 17-year-old has been voted a Young Italy Talent of the Future in 2012, and has gained international recognition across four age groups; indeed, he has played at both the Under-17 European Championship and Under-17 World Cup.

This season, as he looks to make his debut for the Turin side, he has been given the number 77 shirt with the Bianconeri and, while it seems unlikely he will be called upon often, that is the nature of being a reserve goalkeeper. If a chance does come his way, Audero has all the tools at his disposal to grab it.

Andrew_p wrote:Vitale is only 16 ?  

salmano9 wrote:Ooh. But I guess there is a deal to get him at the end of the season yeah?

DeviAngel wrote:

salmano9 wrote:Ooh. But I guess there is a deal to get him at the end of the season yeah?

Yup we inserted some sum in the deal.

Zaza is 100% sassuolo but we can buy him back for 9 million.

DeviAngel wrote:

salmano9 wrote:Ooh. But I guess there is a deal to get him at the end of the season yeah?

Yup we inserted some sum in the deal.

Zaza is 100% sassuolo but we can buy him back for 9 million.

Di Marzio wrote:Zaza has earned the call-up in the Italian national team. Maybe if he was a foreigner, we would be celebrating his goal against Cagliari way more. The ones that know him well remember the acrobatic goals he scored at Ascoli: overhead kicks, flicks, some compared him to Ibra. Surely Juventus’ sporting director Fabio Paratici always believed in Zaza. The executive spent almost all the Mondays in 2013 visiting Coman to convince him to move to Juventus. He did almost the same thing with Zaza since when he was in Atalanta’s youth system. He brought him at Sampdoria for free, gambling on that kid that had talent and determination. “One of those who put their dreams in front of everything: he wanted to become a footballer, it was a hobbyhorse,” tell the ones who are close to him since he was a kid. Paratici then purchased Zaza from Sampdoria, bringing him in a Juventus full of strikers, but knowing that Zaza’s time would arrive soon. And maybe it will. Conte wanted him in the roster, that’s why Zaza will start against Netherlands. So everybody will realize Zaza’s value.