Who is Sebastiano Esposito, world's up-and-coming footballers
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| Photo: 90Min.com |
Early life of rising footballer Sebastiano Esposito
Born in 2002 into a footballing family – Esposito's grandfather, father and uncle all played professionally – the forward was always set to follow in their paths, beginning his development at the same surroundings as Gianluigi Donnarumma had a few years previously at Club Napoli.
It was there where he was spotted by Brescia youth scout Roberto Clerici, who saw the striker dominate despite playing against boys who were two years his senior. Unsurprisingly, they wasted little time in snapping up the precocious talent.
Esposito spent two years with the Rondinelle before appearing on Inter's radar, and along with his brother, Salvatore, he made the move to Milan in 2013, with the aim to establish himself and eventually become a San Siro legend.
The first steps on that path have been overwhelmingly positive.
A title winner with Inter's Under-16s, this season he has split his time between the Under-17 side, for whom he has scored 16 goals in 14 appearances, and the Primavera (or Under-19s team).
His six goals in 16 matches for them led to Luciano Spalletti taking a chance on the teenager against Eintracht as he attempted to find the goals that would keep their hopes of continental silverware alive.
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| Photo: DecanHerald.com |
"Unfortunately, I was not at the stadium for work reasons but I still saw the game on TV," Esposito's father, Agostino, said following his son's first-team bow.
"There was already great adrenaline and then the emotion hit me. I didn't expect to see him on the pitch. I was speechless and I cried with joy."
And while Esposito was unable to further write himself into Inter folklore with a debut goal, this is just the first step towards what many predict will be a highly successful career for both club and country.
Four goals for Italy as they reached the final of the Under-17 European Championship in early May only added to the growing belief that he will play a key role in the rebuilding of the Azzurri following their failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, cites goal.com.
Club Career Sebastiano Esposito
Sebastiano Esposito grabbed Inter's third goal in their 4-0 demolition of Genoa on Saturday and the 17-year-old looks to be the real deal.
While it will be very difficult for the striker to break in to the starting lineup on a regular basis - given the form of both Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez - Esposito is certainly one for the future and can flourish in Serie A.
However, it is fair to say that many of us know very little about him. So here's all you need to know about Inter's prized asset.
Inter's Second Youngest Serie A Scorer
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| Photo: FC Inter News.com |
With the Nerazzurri already two goals to the good, Lukaku decided to delegate penalty-taking responsibilities to Esposito when Inter were awarded a spot kick. The attacker made no mistake, rifling his penalty past Andrei Radu in the Genoa goal.
This made Esposito Inter's second youngest scorer in a Serie A match, only behind Mario Corso. This was his first ever league start, and only his fourth ever Serie A appearance.
Inter's Youngest Champions League Debutant
At 17 years of age, on 23 October 2019 he made his debut in Champions League replacing Romelu Lukaku and Esposito has already played against Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona in Europe's elite competition.
His substitute appearance in Inter's 2-0 win over Dortmund back in late October made him the Italian side's youngest player to make a Champions League appearance. He becomes the first player born in 2002 and the second youngest ever for the club to feature in a Champions League/European Cup match, after Giuseppe Bergomi, cites peoplepill.com.
While Beppe Beregomi made his debut at a younger age in the 1981 European Cup, Inter haven't fielded someone as young as Esposito in the era of the Champions League.
Prolific at International Level Sebastiano Esposito
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| Photo: SempreInter.com |
While he is yet to make his senior debut, Esposito has been a goal machine at youth international level.
In appearances for the Under-16s to the Under-19s of Italy, he has netted 25 goals in 37 games, also helping the Azzurri Under-17 side to the European Championship final.
With his stock ever rising, it appears it may only be a matter of time before Esposito makes his senior Italy debut, according to 90min.com.
He's Versatile
| While Esposito's best position is through the middle, the 17-year-old can also play on either side of a front three. This doesn't really matter given the system Conte employs at Inter, but it shows the versatility and talents of the teenager. However, Conte clearly has faith in the youngster, playing him up top with Lukaku in place of the suspended Martinez at the weekend. |
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