Yahoo Sports GdS: 12 months and 100 minutes – Camarda’s Milan story expected to accelerate
The expectation is that Francesco Camarda will get some more minutes with the senior team tonight as AC Milan host Sassuolo in the Coppa Italia.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write how Camarda has so far played 100 minutes for Milan’s first team, across Serie A and the Champions League. It is the first act of what everyone hopes will be a long love story, given the boyhood Milanista extended his deal until 2027 earlier in the year.
Camarda has overtaken Luka Jovic in the pecking order, who has been sidelined for another month due to back pain which he had surgery on. What that means is he is now the third striker behind Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham, at 16 years of age.
Paulo Fonseca has shown that he is not afraid to give him game time, both as a starter and during a match. He played in the Champions League – the biggest club competition of all – and got the nod against Cagliari from minute one in the league.
Over a year has passed since his debut. It was 25 November 2023, when Stefano Pioli put him on the field for the final 10 minutes against Fiorentina. Camarda was 15 years and eight months old and San Siro reserved a special ovation for him, all while his mother Federica and father Manuel watched on.
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Seven days later the script was almost identical: he came on for the last 10 minutes in place of Jovic, but this time against Frosinone and with the score at 3-1. It was another important step to grow and become familiar with ‘big boy football’.
In the summer, two important changes arrived: Milan Futuro being registered in Serie C, and the arrival of Fonseca as the coach. It is said that the Portuguese is crazy about him and has never been afraid to prove it with facts.
In Sardinia on November 9 he gave Camarda his full debut at 16 years and 244 days old and while he didn’t score, the forward added important pieces to the mosaic. There were some positive signs in there too, and he could have had an assist for Samuel Chukwueze.
Against Club Brugge in the UCL he was the youngest Italian (and Milan) debutant in the history of the competition. With four minutes to go there was an ‘Oscar-worthy moment’ as he headed in a cross from Tijjani Reijnders.
It looked like he was the youngest scorer in the history of the competition as he was lifted to the sky by his team-mates, with his mother and father again pitch side. Unfortunately, VAR had other ideas and sapped the enthusiasm a couple of minutes later.
Last Saturday against Empoli, Camarda came on against Rafael Leao and tried an overhead kick, showing he is not lacking in confidence. It all feels like a dress rehearsal for what will be, a ‘free hit’ if you will given he is 16.
Fonseca is protecting him and waiting patiently, while pushing him with new experiences and showing he will not hold him back. It’s all part of the journey.
