Atalanta gave Moustapha Cissé his Serie A debut this evening and he scored against Bologna, but until last month he was playing amateur football as a refugee from Guinea.
The 18-year-old came off the bench to replace Luis Muriel at the Stadio Dall’Ara during the match against Bologna.
He was only on the field for 17 minutes when he gathered Mario Pasalic’s pass and drilled into the bottom corner.
Incredibly, Cissé was signed by the Atalanta youth academy on February 22 after talent scouts spotted him playing for ASD Rinascita Refugees in a friendly against Serie B side Lecce.
This club is made up entirely of foreign players who are seeking asylum in Italy and play in the Seconda Categoria, effectively the eighth tier of the Italian football leagues.
Cissé made an immediate impact in Bergamo, scoring twice on his debut for the Primavera youth team, a 3-1 win over Milan.
He also scored the winner to beat Napoli 1-0 on March 9.
The teenager caught the eye of coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who called him up to the senior Atalanta squad during an injury crisis that ruled out every striker except for Muriel.
Now he has received his Serie A debut, going from the eighth tier to the top in under a month.
What a story for Atalanta’s Moustapha Cissé 🤩
Comes off the bench and scores on his Serie A debut.
The 18-year-old was playing in the 8th tier of Italian football just a few weeks ago 😳 pic.twitter.com/dTnYQoyI9A
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 20, 2022