Italy U21 international Luca Koleosho registered his first Premier League goal for Burnley during The Clarets’ 5-0 demolition of Sheffield United on Saturday, but the 19-year-old has plenty of options when it comes to senior international football.
Born in Connecticut, United States to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother, Koleosho is eligible to represent four different nations at senior level.
In the youth ranks, he has already turned out for the United States’ U15 team, but has represented Italy’s U19s, U20s and U21s over the course of the last year.
Koleosho has been based in Europe since 2016, when he was just 12 years of age. Having relocated to help with the development of his football career, the youngster spent four years with Catalonian outfit Reus before joining Espanyol’s youth division in 2020.
His first taste of senior football came with Espanyol B in 2022. By May of that year, he had made his debut for the first team, scoring his first official goal in the final game of the season against Almeria.
Vincent Kompany came knocking in the most recent summer transfer window and eventually, Burnley agreed a fee of €2.6m plus around €800,000 in bonuses.
While it has not been a particularly straightforward season for Burnley in the Premier League, Koleosho has impressed with his performances and dribbling ability on the wing.
He has also been involved in all 14 of Burnley’s Premier League matches so far, including 12 as a starter and two off the bench.
By the end of September, Koleosho had found himself among the Premier League’s top three players for completed dribbles per 90 with a figure of 3.96, placing him behind Manchester City’s Matheus Nunes and Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze.
Koleosho has already shown that he is a very capable dribbler of the ball, and now has his first goal to show for it as well.
Along with his two assists, the teenager is now up to three direct goal involvements in his maiden Premier League campaign and is very much the bright spark in an otherwise struggling Burnley unit.