The striker has been generating a huge amount of excitement in Italy for some time now and looks destined to achieve great things
There were still seven minutes remaining in AC Milan's Serie A clash with Fiorentina when Stefano Pioli decided to make a change up front. "Off goes Luka Jovic annnnnnnd…." the stadium announcer said, his voice rising along with the excitement inside the Giuseppe Meazza, "FOR THE FIRST TIME…. NUMBER 73… FRANCESCO CAMARDA!"
The crowd at San Siro erupted, the Curva Sud chanting his name while Camarda's mother burst into tears. As for her son, he simply puffed out his cheeks and smiled. It was, Camarda admitted afterwards, "something unique that I will never forget".
Nobody will, in fairness, because this was history in the making; Camarda made his first appearance for Milan at just 15 years and 260 days old – making him the youngest player Serie A has ever seen.
A combination of injury and suspension had forced Pioli's hand but nobody was in the least bit surprised that the Rossoneri coach had, in his desperation, turned to Camarda. He was being tipped for greatness even before he made his first appearance for the Primavera (Under-19s) earlier this season. Indeed, the feeling at San Siro has long been that Milan have already found their next great goalscorer…
Where it all began
Camarda was born in Milan and began playing organised football with Afforese, a small but famous club located in the north-west of the city.
Despite being just six when he joined, his incredible potential was immediately obvious to Piero Colangelo, who was responsible for the lowest age groups at the time.
"He was three years younger than some of the kids but he was doing the training exercises better than anyone," he told .
"Let me be clear: I don't want to take any credit. Everything Francesco has done is exclusively thanks to him. The first time I saw him, I was shocked: he already looked like a miniature footballer. So, his case is absolutely unique. I have never met boys with his qualities since.
"He scored loads of goals even with the older players; there was no way to stop him. He already had a powerful physique, he played forward or as a winger and was clearly superior to everyone: he was a hurricane, a pain for all his opponents."
Unsurprisingly, his exploits at Afforese attracted the attention of Milan, whom he joined in 2015.
AdvertisementThe big break
There was no containing Camarda at Milan either. The 'hurricane' laid waste to every defence that had the misfortune to be placed in his path, obliterating one record after another, reportedly averaging five goals a game as he progressed from one under-age team to another.
He struck 22 times in 25 appearances for Milan's Under-15 Italian champions, including the winner in the Scudetto final against Fiorentina.
By that stage, the hype surrounding Camarda was already building and he inevitably began to attract the attention of rival clubs, particularly as Milan were not in a position to tie him down to a long-term professional contract until he turned 16.
However, in one of his last moves before being ruthlessly sacked by Milan, Paolo Maldini went out of his way to assure Camarda and his family that his future would be best served by staying at San Siro, revealing that he would be added to the Primavera (Under-19s) squad for the 2023-24 season.
How it's going
On his UEFA Youth League debut, Camarda scored two goals and created another in a 4-0 rout of Newcastle. In his most recent outing, against Paris Saint-Germain on November 7, he helped Milan to a 3-2 win with a stunning scissors-kick.
So, when Pioli realised that he would be without both Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor for Saturday's game against Fiorentina due to injury, as well as the suspended Olivier Giroud, he decided to call up Camarda.
The youngster had already trained with the senior squad several times, even featuring in a pre-season friendly against Trento.
Consequently, Pioli had no doubts that Camarda was ready to make the step up.
"Talent has no age," the coach told reporters on the eve of the match at San Siro, "and Francesco undoubtedly has it."
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GettyBiggest strengths
Camarda is considered a complete No.9, an all-action, all-round attacker blessed with excellent technique who is strong in the air and boasts a fearsome strike. However, what really stands out is his character.
As Pioli has commented, Camarda is "very mature" for his age – which is why he had no qualms about throwing him at the deep end on Saturday.
He's also a fiercely competitive character. Famously, in a match against Bayern Munich in 2018, he was forced off with an ankle injury after 15 minutes only to ask his coach to be sent back on (which is allowed in the lower age groups) with 10 minutes remaining because Milan were trailing by two goals. Despite still being in serious pain, Camarada was directly involved in three goals, scoring two himself, as the Rossoneri came from behind to win.
It is that will to win, mixed with his obvious prodigious talent, that has got Camarda to this point in his professional career at such a ridiculously young age.