One of the new starlets on the Serie A football scene is an Italian with Egyptian roots. Stephan El Shaarawy is 18 years old, born in Savona on the coast of Liguria and his name instantly betrays North African connections; El Shaarawy has an Egyptian father and an Italian mother. The AC Milan youngster is an emerging talent and well capable of taking the 2011/12 Serie A campaign by storm if handed the opportunity to shine.
El Shaarawy plays up front, preferring the left-hand side, especially if the team decide to deploy a 4-3-3 system, but is equally at home right across the forward line. The promising talent can also play in a 4-4-2, although his preference remains for the left, with the sight of him cutting into the centre to shoot on goal not an uncommon one. El Shaarawy is skilful, quick and boasts a powerful long range shot.
The “Pharaoh”, an obvious nickname handed to the youngster, made his Serie A debut on 21st December 2008 with Genoa, his first professional side, against Chievo, an encounter which the Rossoblu won 1-0. After that game however, then-coach Gian Piero Gasperini did not hand El Shaarawy too many further chances to impress – while the current Inter coach felt that the forward was talented, he did not believe him quite ready to play regularly in Italy’s top flight.
In the meantime, the Pharaoh continued to play with the club’s Under-20 Primavera team and in the 2008/09 season won the Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup with the Rossoblu youngsters.
El Shaarawy got another taste of Serie A on 14th February 2010, playing away in Turin against Juventus, and picked up the Primavera championship with Genoa in the same season, enjoying a superb campaign and scoring one of the side’s goals in the final against Empoli.
In the summer of 2010, Genoa opted to send El Shaarawy on loan to Padova for regular first team football at senior level in Serie B. Despite picking up an injury in October, the rising star clocked up 25 appearances, scoring seven times for the Biancoscudati. Padova had a season to remember in Italy’s second tier, losing out on promotion only in the playoff final against Novara.
With the starlet one of the key players in coach Alessandro dal Canto’s team, Padova had much reason to thank El Shaarawy; the youngster scored two sublime goals in the second leg of the playoff semi-final against Varese. The team from Lombardy netted twice early in the match, but before half time, El Shaarawy scored a breathtaking goal from outside the penalty area with a shot that had more than a little of Alessandro Del Piero in its execution. In the second half, with the score 3-2 for Varese, El Shaarawy struck again, hitting a powerful left-footed shot inside the box which stunned the goalkeeper. The match ended 3-3, but thanks to Padova’s 1-0 win in the first leg, El Shaarawy had helped the side advance to the final.
Although Padova could not overcome the final hurdle to reach Italy’s top flight, the Varese game shot El Shaarawy into the minds of Italian fans everywhere as a seriously promising talent. And the Pharoah was now on the shopping list of all Italy’s giants.
But it was AC Milan that El Shaarawy quickly declared his love for, stating: “I grew up as a Milanista and my favourite player was Kaka. Since then, one of my dreams has been to play for the Rossoneri at the San Siro, a wonderful stadium.”
Despite the fact that the youngster had to head back to Genoa, Milan’s interest had already been piqued. Genoa President Enrico Preziosi and Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani enjoy one of the closest working relationships in the Italian game and in the weeks that followed, the Rossoneri negotiated with the Rossoblu for Rodney Strasser, Alberto Paloschi and Gianmarco Zigoni, with each of the talents earning a definite place at the San Siro – the trio have already represented Milan in the Primavera. Greek full back Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent to Genoa. In the meantime, Galliani also swooped for El Shaarawy, presenting the attacker at Milanello in mid-July alongside French defender Philippe Mexes and Ghana international full back Taye Taiwo.
El Shaarawy’s future this season remains up in the air. The youngster could stay at Milan for the entire campaign, with the opportunity to make his mark, perhaps even in the Champions League. But it is also possible that Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri may loan the 18-year-old out, with Serie B again a favoured destination.
In 2006 the attacking all-rounder opted to take Italian nationality and represented the Under-17 and Under-19 Azzurri sides. Five years later, in February 2011, Ciro Ferrara, the ex-Napoli and Juventus legend, called El Shaarawy up for an Under-21 friendly against England, but the youngster remained on the bench for the entire evening.
Regardless of his fate this season, El Shaarawy is determined to make his mark and has the talent to do so. If given the chance, the 18-year-old is a player to watch in this year’s Serie A.
