"Don't make me come up there!"
One of the biggest mental obstacles facing any promising young footballer is being labelled as the next coming of one legends of your club or national team.
Sometimes these comparisons prove to be justified – Lionel Messi has shown more than the odd flash of Maradona (he even scored with his hand once) – but sometimes they fall short. Vary rarely, during his spell at Anfield, did Bruno Cheyrou look like being anywhere near ‘the next Zidane’.
But what of the next Alessandro del Piero?
This is the title being heaped on Juventus forward
Sebastian Giovinco, following a string of fine performances in Serie A over the past two seasons. But this pressure isn’t the only thing that could cause the 22 year old problems.
The very fact he’s nicknamed ‘Atom Ant’, after the Hanna-Barbera of the same name, tells you everything you need to know about Giovinco’s frame – he’s bloomin’ tiny.
Standing at just 5ft4 you’d be excused for Giovinco was Del Piero’s son, rather than his team-mate – but when he steps out onto the pitch, you know he’s where he belongs.
Here, with the help of our friends at Championship Manager, is our scouting report into the promising young Italian.
The annual Juventus father/son picnic was a low-key affair
Sebastian Giovinco
Age: 22
Nationality: Italian
Club: Juventus
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Estimated transfer Value: £10 million
Career History: Made his senior debut for Juve during 2006/07, before moving to Empoli on loan for 2007/08, scoring six times in 35 Serie A appearances. He then returned to Juve for 2008/09 and went on to make 23 appearances for and score two goals. He was one of Italy’s better players at the European under-21 Championships over the past fortnight, with his performance against hosts Sweden, in which he made two assists in a 3-1 victory, particularly eye-catching.
Playing style: A skilful attacking midfielder or second striker, similar to Alessandro Del Piero.
Strengths: He has superb technique, vision and passing. He is also very skilful, has fine control and is great on the ball.
Weakness: His heading is a bit rusty, which is quite probably down to the fact that, at just 5ft4, he gets very little competitive practice. He could also benefit from improving his defensive play – including tackling, tracking back and marking.
What Next? Although he may opt to stay at Juventus, and eventually act as the long-term replacement for Alessandro Del Piero, the arrival of Diego at the Stadio Delle Alpi could restrict his first team appearances in the next couple of seasons. Rumours have circulated that he may be offered to Udinese as a bargaining tool for Juve to sign Bianconeri midfielder Gaetano D'Agostino.
Giovinco has been linked with
Arsenal,
Manchester City,
Everton and
West Ham over the last few months, while
Manchester United and
Chelsea may see him as an affordable option, with Sir Alex Ferguson looking to replace Carlos Tevez and Carlo Ancelotti having been knocked-back in his approaches for Milan's Pato.
Ratings:
• Overall: 7.1
• Shooting: 8
• Passing: 8.1
• Heading: 5.6
• Tackling: 2.6
• Pace: 8
• Work-rate: 7.2
• Crossing: 7.9
• Creativity: 7.4
• Dribbling: 8.7
