Mattia Liberali: Milan’s ball magnet wants to follow the path of Francesco Camarda
Talents Calendar
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Dominant was always the adjective to describe Mattia Liberali—and it is also likely to describe him in the future. La Dominante, on the other hand, is the club where the young talent played until 2015 before he joined Milan Futuro, the newly founded reserve side of AC Milan.
Liberali, who grew up on the outskirts of Monza made his first steps in his career at La Dominante, not far from his home at Aquile della Brianza. The other youth club he played for was Rhodense, located west of Milan. But AC Milan, too, had the young talent on the radar and managed to secure him in 2015.
The player and the club attracted each other like magnets, similarly to how Liberali is attracted to the ball—an object that has always fascinated him. He wasn’t always at home in the attacking midfield, but he started his career as a defender. The reason behind this was odd. “The further back he could play the more opponents he could take on one-v-one.
The statement was made by his former Milan youth coach, Andrea Biffi in an interview with La Giovane Italia. He added: “He is fearless and has an excellent technique, doesn’t limit himself to just taking on opponents with a simple dribble but also likes to use artistry to get past them. And he dribbles so well that it was natural to see him start at his own end of the pitch and still have more shots than the forwards he played with. He scored three goals against Ajax at a tournament when he was eight. Then, at the next tournament, he again scored a brace against them. Even though he was the smallest among giants, he always scored big goals.”
“He is free in his movements, elegant and coordinated, with the abilities of a King Midas, who turns everything he touches into gold,” Aniello Luciano, Lead of Content at Transfermarkt.it said. “It is seldom to see such a balance between thinking and doing and instinct projected onto the game. It is like he cartographs space and then dominates it down to the smallest dimension while being connected to the rest of the team. That’s how Liberali maintains the balance between individual class and team spirit.” His family, who is very close to him, also ensures that he remains with both feet to the ground.
Liberali wants to follow his friend Camarda to Milan’s first team
He played in every youth category with Italy and won the U17 European Championships this year. He shares a special bond with Francesco Camarda, the most outstanding talent at Milan, with whom he won the 2021/22 U15 championship. While Camarda is already part of the first team and wrote history when he became the youngest debutant in Serie A history, Liberali is still awaiting his breakthrough with the first team. Until now, he has only managed a few appearances in friendly matches last summer, but in one of them, he managed an assist against Real Madrid. The goal is to be reunited with his friend and to form a dangerous duo: one as the head, the other as the leading arm. Just like the motto of the Italian tire manufacturer Pirelli: La Potenza non è nulla senza controllo – strength means nothing without control.
From December 1 to 24, we introduce new players from different countries born in 2007 and 2008. Area managers, users, and data scouts come into play as experts throughout the series. You can follow all those players by adding them to your TM watchlist.
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