Francesco Camarda: AC Milan's history-making 'hurricane' being tracked by Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham

Camarda was born in Milan and began playing organised football with Afforese, a small but famous club located in the north-west of the city. Despite being just six when he joined, his incredible potential was immediately obvious to Piero Colangelo, who was responsible for the lowest age groups at the time.

"He was three years younger than some of the kids but he was doing the training exercises better than anyone," he told Sprint & Sport. "Let me be clear: I don't want to take any credit. Everything Francesco has done is exclusively thanks to him.

"The first time I saw him, I was shocked: he already looked like a miniature footballer. So, his case is absolutely unique. I have never met boys with his qualities since. He scored loads of goals even with the older players; there was no way to stop him.

"He already had a powerful physique, he played forward or as a winger and was clearly superior to everyone: he was a hurricane, a pain for all his opponents."

Unsurprisingly, his exploits at Afforese attracted the attention of Milan, whom he joined in 2015.

There was no containing Camarda at Milan, either. The 'hurricane' laid waste to every defence that had the misfortune to be placed in his path, obliterating one record after another, averaging five goals a game as he progressed from one under-age team to another.

He struck 22 times in 25 appearances for Milan's U15 Italian champions, including the winner in the Scudetto final against Fiorentina. By that stage, the hype surrounding Camarda was already building and he inevitably began to attract the attention of rival clubs, particularly as Milan were not in a position to tie him down to a long-term professional contract until he turned 16.

However, in one of his last moves before being ruthlessly sacked by Milan, Paolo Maldini went out of his way to assure Camarda and his family that his future would be best served by staying at San Siro, revealing that he would be added to the Primavera squad for the 2023-24 season. Unsurprisingly, it proved an inspired call by the Rossoneri's grossly mistreated former technical director.

On his UEFA Youth League debut, Camarda scored two goals and created another in a 4-0 rout of Newcastle. In doing so, he became the second-youngest player ever to bag a brace in the club game's most prestigious Under-19 tournament. On November 7, meanwhile, he helped Milan to a 3-2 win over Paris Saint-Germain with a stunning scissors-kick.

So, when Pioli found himself shorn of the services of Olivier Giroud (suspension), Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor (both injured) for the game against Fiorentina later that month, he decided to call up Camarda.

Milan required special clearance from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to field a minor in a competitive fixture, but Camarda had already trained with the senior squad several times, even featuring in a pre-season friendly against Trento. Consequently, Pioli had no doubts that the teenager was ready to make the step up. "Talent has no age," the coach told reporters on the eve of the match at San Siro, "and Francesco undoubtedly has it."

Camarda made his second appearance for Milan just a week after his first, coming on for the final five minutes in a 3-1 win over Frosinone at San Siro. He hasn't featured for the senior side since - primarily because Milan's injury issues quickly eased - but he has continued to shine at U19 level.

Camarda started in every round of the knockout stage as the Rossoneri reached the final of the UEFA Youth League, beating Real Madrid along the way. Unfortunately for Camarda & Co., they were beaten in the tournament decider by Olympiacos, on Monday, but that defeat has done nothing to quell the mounting excitement - and speculation- surrounding the centre-forward.

Camarda is considered a complete No.9, an all-action, all-round attacker blessed with excellent technique who is strong in the air and boasts a fearsome strike. However, what really stands out is his competitive character. He says himself that while he considers himself "fun" off the field, he is fiercely "determined" on it.

Famously, in a match against Bayern Munich in 2018, he was forced off with an ankle injury after 15 minutes, only to ask his coach to be sent back on (which is allowed in the lower age groups) with 10 minutes remaining because Milan were trailing by two goals. Despite still being in serious pain, Camarada was directly involved in three goals, scoring two himself, as the Rossoneri came from behind to win.

It is that will to win, mixed with his obvious prodigious talent, that has got Camarda to this point in his professional career at such a ridiculously young age. As Pioli said, the forward is "very mature" - which is why the coach had no qualms about giving him his debut at 15.

Camarda is already 6ft tall (1.84 metres), and it is thought that he might yet grow even more in the next year or two, meaning he looks destined to become an imposing figure up front. Much will obviously depend on how he develops physically, of course, as it's clear that he has yet to properly fill out, which is only natural given he's still only 16.

It seems highly likely that he'll become both strong and agile, though, given he practices kickboxing - just like one of his idols, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

He's also been working on his movement and arguably couldn't have picked a better player to study. "My idol has always been Ronaldo, the Phenomenon," Camarda told the Italian Football Federation's official channel. "My dad was also a great fan of the Brazilian; I like watching videos with his plays, his positioning and his runs."

The one real question mark probably hangs over his temper. As Camarda says himself, he lacks patience and can sometimes let his frustration get the better himself, as underlined by the red card he received after the final whistle had blown in the Youth League win over PSG for allegedly insulting an opponent.

"The referee saw a gesture but I think he misinterpreted it," Primavera coach Ignazio Abate said. "Playing four years above your age group is not easy. When you run into two bigger defenders that are always going in hard on you, it's tough. But this incident will help him grow."

There has already been talk of Milan having found a homegrown Marco van Basten or Andriy Shevchenko, but Filippo Galli, who was in charge of the Milan's youth sector between 2009 and 2018, believes that Camarda is more similar to an icon from a completely different era: Pierino Prati.

The Italian was a key member of the great Rossoneri side that won the league and then the European Cup at the tail end of the 1960s and, just like Camarda, he was a prolific attacker capable of playing anywhere across the forward line.

This is the big question, as Camarda turned 16 on March 10. He could have signed his first professional contract with Milan there and then but, six weeks on, negotiations remain ongoing. Obviously, given the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus are all following the situation closely, the longer the talks drag on, the more nervous Milan fans become.

However, it is worth noting that while the club and Camarda's people have yet to finalise terms - which is always a concern in the unscrupulous world of football - the Rossoneri would rather wait until the summer before signing anything anyway. Basically, because of the way first professional contracts work in Italy, right now, Milan can only offer Camarda a deal until June 30, 2026. However, if he were to instead sign on July 1, the deal would run until the end of June 2027.

The Rossoneri won't rest easy until the deal is done, of course, but one other thing needs to be kept in mind: Camarda currently wants nothing other than to stay at San Siro. He is a Milan fan through and through. He even quoted one of the supporters' favourite songs after making his debut last November.

"It's really true that 'SINCE I WAS LITTLE I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU, MY HEART WAS BEATING, DON'T ASK ME WHY!'" he wrote on Instagram. "Well, today I know why! I discovered that I have a second home and the best thing is that they are all people like me! I love you, THANK YOU!!!!!"

Milan fans need not panic yet, then. Camarda is quite clearly one of their own. The offers are undoubtedly flooding in from all over Europe and there will be more money on offer in Manchester than Milan.

But that little smile at San Siro on his professional debut just felt so significant. Camarda clearly relished making his first professional appearance at the Giuseppe Meazza. He'll doubtless be determined to score his first professional goal there too.