Sampdoria’s back-up goalkeeper, Martin Turk has been labelled Slovenia’s ‘new Jan Oblak’ and has cited Gianluigi Buffon as his childhood hero.
Turk was called into the Samp line-up for the first time on Sunday evening in the 4-2 Serie A loss to Juventus at the Allianz Stadium.
The Slovene shot-stopper replaced mainstay Emil Audero between the sticks, who had suffered a serious shoulder injury in the week’s training building up to the game.
With Audero likely to be sidelined for a significant spell following the diagnosis of a dislocated shoulder, Turk could be heavily involved in Sampdoria’s bid to remain in Serie A.
Contracted to Parma, the 19-year-old ‘keeper was on loan at Serie C outfit Reggiana during the 2021-22 season, before being sent out to Sampdoria in August 2022.
Whilst at Parma, Turk was training under the auspices of the legendary Buffon; Turk’s idol whilst growing up.
The youngster told Gazzetta dello Sport: “At school, I studied Italian. I grew up watching the accomplishments of Gianluigi Buffon.”
It was against Buffon’s former club, Juventus where Turk made his Serie A debut on Sunday evening, coming out on the losing side of the eventual 4-2 result.
Turk has also been inspired by the achievements of compatriot Oblak, who has featured for Atletico Madrid in LaLiga and in the Champions League since 2014.
Despite only being 19 years old, he has been taking advice from Oblak in the national team set-up for a number of years already.
He explained: “At 13 I was already training with the first team. In 2016 the national team played against Macedonia in Koper and I was Oblak’s ball boy.”
With healthy experience in Serie B with Parma, now set for a run of games in Serie A and still with an abundance of time on his hands, Turk, nicknamed “The Iceman”, could be one to watch out for in the coming seasons.