PLAYER PROFILE: PIETRO PARMIGGIANI

AC Milan Primavera, who are certainly enjoying a promising season, have a young and emerging core of players who have progressed through the different age groups of the Youth Sector to reach where they are today. One such youngster is 2006-born Pietro Parmiggiani, who - like Coach Abate and several others - experienced the U16 Scudetto Final against Roma in 2022 and is now part of the U19 setup. The U16s, U17s, U18s and the Primavera. League football, the Coppa Italia and the Youth League.

Over the past few years, Pietro, who was born in Asola (in the province of Mantua), has represented all these Rossoneri teams, playing mainly as a centre-back and always responding when called upon. This has also been the case this season, his first campaign as a fully-fledged U19 squad member. Due to his young age, his playing time was limited at the start of the season. However, with so many players having been called up to the first-team fold, he's become a regular starter across all competitions. It's been an important campaign for the 18-year-old, who signed his first professional contract in the last few weeks.

This agreement will tie him to the Rossoneri until 2025 and is testament to his importance to the team. In fact, since 13 December, when AC Milan faced Newcastle in their final group game in the Youth League, Pietro has been ever-present in Coach Abate's backline (except for the league game against Atalanta), all the while displaying selflessness, a spirit of sacrifice and attachment to the shirt. Through his positivity and consistency, Parmiggiani has carved out a deserved place for himself in a group that isn't short of ambition and enthusiasm.

As the Rossoneri look forward to two busy weeks that will see them face Genoa on the road and Inter and Braga (in the Youth League) at home, we sat down with Pietro for an interview where on-the-pitch matters and his personal life were covered: "In difficult times, we have always supported each other, looking into each other's eyes: this is the right path. Signing the first contract was a tremendous feeling because it rewarded me for all the efforts I've made since childhood. However, it's a starting point, not the endpoint." Parmiggiani continues about the upcoming matches: "There will be very tough matches, and we'll have to take them one at a time, starting with Genoa, which will be a challenging away game. For all the sacrifices made since July, we deserve to go all the way in both the league and the Youth League. But to do that, we'll have to push ourselves."

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