Paul McGuiness Impressed By Petrucci

Drifter · 20th August 2008, 12:28

Manchester United youth coach Paul McGuiness has been blown away by the quality of controversial young Italian signing Davide Petrucci.

Support striker Petrucci is rated as one of the best young talents of his generation, and he has been labelled by some as the “new Francesco Totti”.

However as he was still under age, Petrucci had not signed a professional contract with Roma, and Man Utd nipped in a few months ago to poach the 16-year-old prodigy for a miserly £200,000, offering him £95,000 per year, plus all expenses paid for him to fly home to Italy on a regular basis.

This transfer infuriated the Calcio community, who ganged up on Man Utd for stealing the youngster off Roma.

The Premiership side have remained completely silent over the controversy, but they are absolutely delighted with their new recruit.

"Davide is an all-round midfield player," Under-18s boss Paul McGuinness told manutd.com.

"He does a bit of everything; he can win the ball, distribute it well, a good range of creative passing and he has a hell of a shot on him.

"He likes to shoot as well and he has the potential to score plenty of goals from midfield, either with a long range shot or bursting into the box to score with his feet or from a header."

English clubs have long been criticised by foreign clubs for stealing under-age players, many of these coming from Italy. Reggina’s 15-year-old Vincenzo Camilleri was snapped up by Chelsea in February, Atalanta’s teenage talent Fabio Zamblera by Newcastle Utd, while a few years back Parma-duo Giuseppe Rossi and Arturo Lupoli were signed by Man Utd and Arsenal respectively.

This led Palermo’s outspoken President Maurizio Zamparini to famously brand English teams as “pirates”.

samabachan · 21st August 2008, 01:33

Sounds like McGuinness doesn't rate him as a forward.... seems like they see him becoming a 'box-to-box' CM...

Mr. MUJAC · 24th August 2008, 23:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by samabachan

Sounds like McGuinness doesn't rate him as a forward.... seems like they see him becoming a 'box-to-box' CM...

I have seen him play twice now plus in the NIMC on TV and he seems a cracking midfielder with a good range of passing. A bit light weight for a forward at the moment.

Escobar · 25th August 2008, 09:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. MUJAC

I have seen him play twice now plus in the NIMC on TV and he seems a cracking midfielder with a good range of passing. A bit light weight for a forward at the moment.

What's your first impression then?

Ace · 25th August 2008, 09:54

£95,000 per year plus airfare to Rome whenever I want would have been lovely at sixteen.

20th August 2008, 12:28	#1 (permalink)
Drifter First Team Regular Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 17,396	Paul McGuiness Impressed By Petrucci Manchester United youth coach Paul McGuiness has been blown away by the quality of controversial young Italian signing Davide Petrucci. Support striker Petrucci is rated as one of the best young talents of his generation, and he has been labelled by some as the “new Francesco Totti”. However as he was still under age, Petrucci had not signed a professional contract with Roma, and Man Utd nipped in a few months ago to poach the 16-year-old prodigy for a miserly £200,000, offering him £95,000 per year, plus all expenses paid for him to fly home to Italy on a regular basis. This transfer infuriated the Calcio community, who ganged up on Man Utd for stealing the youngster off Roma. The Premiership side have remained completely silent over the controversy, but they are absolutely delighted with their new recruit. "Davide is an all-round midfield player," Under-18s boss Paul McGuinness told manutd.com. "He does a bit of everything; he can win the ball, distribute it well, a good range of creative passing and he has a hell of a shot on him. "He likes to shoot as well and he has the potential to score plenty of goals from midfield, either with a long range shot or bursting into the box to score with his feet or from a header." English clubs have long been criticised by foreign clubs for stealing under-age players, many of these coming from Italy. Reggina’s 15-year-old Vincenzo Camilleri was snapped up by Chelsea in February, Atalanta’s teenage talent Fabio Zamblera by Newcastle Utd, while a few years back Parma-duo Giuseppe Rossi and Arturo Lupoli were signed by Man Utd and Arsenal respectively. This led Palermo’s outspoken President Maurizio Zamparini to famously brand English teams as “pirates”.

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21st August 2008, 01:33	#2 (permalink)
samabachan Cockface McSticklebrick Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: He plays on the left, he plays on the riiiiiiiight, our boy Ronaldo made you look shite. Posts: 4,248	Sounds like McGuinness doesn't rate him as a forward.... seems like they see him becoming a 'box-to-box' CM...

25th August 2008, 09:54	#5 (permalink)
Ace Reserve Team Player Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Da Silva Fever Posts: 1,887	£95,000 per year plus airfare to Rome whenever I want would have been lovely at sixteen.