Milan have reportedly clinched a deal for Platense defender Marco Pellegrino, who could represent Italy and had to choose between being a tennis prodigy or pursuing football.
The agreement is said to be worth circa €3m plus a percentage of the sell-on fee, with the player expected within days for his medical tests.
He will sign a five-year contract to June 2028.
He only turned 21 last month and is a product of the Platense youth academy, identified by the Rossoneri scouting network as ideally suited to Stefano Pioli’s tactics.
Sport was always an important part of his life and up until the age of 14, he was considered a prodigy both in tennis and football.
It was only when entering the Platense youth academy that he was forced to make a choice which of the two professions to pursue full-time.
Considering he is making the leap to San Siro at 21, it looks as if he picked the right one.
Pellegrino still adores tennis and considers Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz to be his model worth learning from.
“I feel like I made the right decision. My family also really enjoyed football, I had many friends and enjoyed playing. It hurt a bit at first to leave tennis behind, but it didn’t go too badly,” he told Ole.
If a team in the Champions League has a packed fixture list, that is nothing compared to young Pellegrino describing his routine of football training every day, five or six per week in tennis and representing three different football clubs at junior level.
At least it taught him some crucial skills that can be passed over to Calcio.
“In tennis you are alone and there are moments in football when you are alone, that is when mentality plays a fundamental role. I learned to control my mentality in tennis.”
As the name would suggest, Pellegrino also has Italian heritage, which means he could be picked for the Azzurri along with new Genoa striker Mateo Retegui in future.