Atalanta defender Giorgio Scalvini has been announced as the winner of the Best Italian player aged U21 at the 2023 Golden Boy ceremony in Turin.
Previous winners of the award include Juventus midfielder Fabio Miretti in 2022, Atalanta’s Roberto Piccoli in 2021 and former Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali in 2020.
Scalvini comes off the back of an impressive calendar year for club and country, establishing himself as a reliable first-team starter for both Atalanta and Italy.
The 19-year-old was called upon on 32 occasions as Atalanta recorded a fifth-place finish in Serie A in 2022-23 and has started in all but one of their league matches so far this season.
Despite still being a teenager, he has also already been capped seven times, four of which have come in 2023.
As he is involved for Atalanta against Torino in Serie A on Monday evening, Scalvini was unable to attend the event himself. La Dea CEO Luca Percassi was able to accept the award on his behalf.
On stage, Percassi said: “It’s a beautiful event, I’m here with enormous pride.
“Giorgio is an extraordinary lad, he started with us as an 11-year-old and, at 19, he has made more than 70 appearances for the first team.
“We followed the example of Juve, a great team and a great club. They started before everyone else with the concept of second teams. We were lucky enough to be able to follow in their footsteps, which is starting to give us a lot of satisfaction.
“I thank Giorgio’s family and agents. The parents have to show a lot of trust in the club and they did exactly that. Scalvini is where he is today thanks to them.”
Why have I never rated him? he’s so slow. Outpaced by pretty much every player i’ve seen. He’s never impressed me. ever. who’s his agent and hype men?