Francesco Camarda: AC Milan's history-making 'hurricane' set to take Serie A by storm at just 15

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, reportedly 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 Under-15 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 (Under-19s) squad for the 2023-24 season.

On his UEFA Youth League debut, Camarda scored two goals and created another in a 4-0 rout of Newcastle. In his most recent outing, against Paris Saint-Germain on November 7, he helped Milan to a 3-2 win with a stunning scissors-kick.

So, when Pioli realised that he would be without both Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor for Saturday's game against Fiorentina due to injury, as well as the suspended Olivier Giroud, he decided to call up Camarda.

The youngster had already trained with the senior squad several times, even featuring in a pre-season friendly against Trento.

Consequently, Pioli had no doubts that Camarda 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 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 character.

As Pioli has commented, Camarda is "very mature" for his age - which is why he had no qualms about throwing him at the deep end on Saturday.

He's also a fiercely competitive character. 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.

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. It's clear that he has yet to fill out, which is only natural given he's still only 15.

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."

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.

Galli also says it is absolutely imperative that everyone manages to keep their expectations in check. However, he believes he could not have a better family supporting him, a better club looking after him or a better coach guiding him.

"I met this father," Galli told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "Francesco has an fantastic family behind him. And Pioli is the most suitable figure to manage him. He is an empathetic, calm and balanced coach."

From Milan's perspective, their primary objective is convincing Camarda to sign his professional contract with the club when he turns 16 on March 10, given Manchester City and Arsenal are among those reportedly interested in signing the striker.

However, the Rossoneri are confident that Camarda wants nothing other than to stay at San Siro. He is very much one of them, after all.

He even quoted one of the supporters' favourite songs after making his debut on Saturday.

"It's really true that 'SINCE I WAS LITTLE I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU, MY HEART BEATED, 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!!!!!"

The offers are probably already arriving from Europe's richest clubs but that little smile at San Siro on Saturday night spoke volumes. Francesco Camarda relished experiencing the Giuseppe Meazza in full voice for the very first time. There's just no way it'll be the last.