Pulisic and Musah's teammate achieves incredible Serie A mark

Francesco Camarda, a forward for AC Milan, has become the league’s youngest player after making his professional debut for the Rossoneri at just 15 years and 260 days old.

It seems like every year in soccer brings new challenges to the already high learning curve. As they prove themselves to be more than their years would indicate, up-and-coming stars of a younger generation are making waves in the industry.

The young teenager Camarda came in as a second-half substitute for Luka Jovic and played the last seven minutes, including extra time. The home team held on to their 1-0 advantage despite the crowd enthusiastically chanting about the young star.

In the first half, French left-back Theo Hernandez netted the game-winning penalty for the Rossoneri. Thus, they won their first match since October 7.

Who is Francesco Camarda?

With Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor out with injuries and Olivier Giroud facing a two-game suspension after his red card against Lecce, Stefano Pioli’s squad is severely depleted in terms of players.

Because of this, Pioli chose to sub the 15-year-old in the match against Fiorentina. Camarda, a highly skilled Italian prospect, plays for Ignazio Abate’s U-19 team. This year marked the lad’s fifteenth birthday; he was born in Milan on March 10, 2008.

He has scored seven goals in thirteen games, including three in the UEFA Youth League. These include a brace against Newcastle and an unbelievable bicycle kick against Paris Saint-Germain in the most recent game played.

The 15-year-old is a record-breaker for AC Milan‘s youth program, having scored 485 goals in only 89 games. His career stats show that he is a forward who is quite at ease and productive while playing in the penalty area.

He broke the record for youngest Italian youth league goal scorer not long ago, having begun training with the U19s at 14.

Who held the previous Serie A and AC Milan record?

Nervously awaiting a much-needed win, fans watched intently to see whether the youthful Camarda would make his debut after being nominated to the matchday roster by Stefano Pioli.

The moment had arrived in the 83rd minute, with few substitute choices and the team clinging to a 1-0 advantage.

Wisdom Amey of Bologna set the previous record on May 21, 2022. It happened against Genoa, when he came in as a substitute at the age of 15 years and 274 days. Pietro Pellegri, a striker for Genoa, was only four days older than Amey when he made his debut against Torino.

Prior to this, Gianluigi Donnarumma had been Milan’s youngest Serie A debutant. Given the starting nod to face Sassuolo at San Siro in October 2015, he was sixteen years and eight months old.

Additionally, the teenage rising star outscored Paolo Maldini. Long ago, to put things in perspective, the Rossoneri legend made his own debut on the senior circuit for the red and black when he was sixteen years, six months, and twenty-five days old.

There is an indisputable air of anticipation and enthusiasm around Camarda. The Red and Blacks’ supporters will surely hope that one of their own will emerge as the club’s next great star and steer it towards a prosperous future.

Photo credit: IMAGO / sportphoto24