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MILAN – Roberto Samaden spoke of the future stars of Italian football, the Nerazzurri’s youth academy and the club’s partnership with AC Prato in a radio interview this afternoon. “Our job is to ensure the lads develop in the best way possible. Inter are a club with a proven model and a very coherent structure, a club that is delivering big things in terms of helping young players grow. It’s no over-exaggeration to say that our youth setup has produced the most top players in the history of Italian football.”
The Inter youth system is part of a wide-reaching project which also involves AC Prato. Samaden explains: “The president and Piero Ausilio wanted to start a strategic partnership with a Lega Pro club in order to give young players a chance to gain experience, so they are ready to play in Serie A as soon as possible.” Samaden also ran the rule on some of the Primavera’s current crop: “This year we’ve got five or six lads playing in the first team who came though the youth setup. There are going to be a few more opportunities for them in the first team, thanks to the Europa League. Aside from Puscas and Bonazzoli, I’m also thinking about Camara – I think they’re ready to make that step up.”
Finally, Samaden spoke about the Italy U21s. “In the last match, five of the starting eleven had come through our ranks here, and a sixth lad of ours came on in the second half. I don’t think there are too many foreign players in Italy; less than 10% of Inter’s youth setup is made up of foreigners. It all comes down to individual quality at the end of the day,” Samaden concluded.
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