The 20-year-old former Chelsea player scored as a substitute last weekend and expects Massimiliano Allegri to continue.
Samuel Iling-Junior has mastered many words in Italian since he joined Juventus from Chelsea’s academy in 2020, although one has been particularly useful: pazienza (patience). Having made his first-team breakthrough last season when he followed in the footsteps of Johnny Jordan and David Platt, becoming the third English player to score in Serie A for the Old Lady, the 20-year-old has yet to start a league match this campaign.
Even a scorching performance against Salernitana on Sunday, when the striker, who started with Clissold Rangers at Stoke Newington, came off the bench and found the net in the 2-1 win, might not be enough. It won’t be to convince Massimiliano Allegri that Iling-Junior deserves a starting spot. Juventus are reportedly in a position to sell him this month for around €30 million (£25. 8 million), with Aston Villa, Brighton and Tottenham among the Premier League clubs interested in bringing him back to UKArray.
But Saul Isaksson-Hurst, who met Iling-Junior while coaching Chelsea’s under-10s and has been coaching him privately for more than three years through his company My Football Coach, believes he deserves to be proud of his achievements in Italy and that the most productive is yet to come. “I don’t think there’s a limit to their potential,” he says. “I was hoping we’d give him more opportunities this season, but he’s a normal player in Juve’s first team and he’s either here or there. .
“Any young player wants to be playing as much as possible but I don’t think he will be too disappointed with how it has gone. He loves the club and the city and is happy there. But the transfer window is open and you never know what could happen because everything can change with one phone call.”
Iling-Junior, who made his England Under-21 debut in September, got in touch with Isaksson-Hurst a year after joining Juventus, having turned down approaches from Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund. “He said he was looking to do a little more paintings when he returned to England over the summer. It’s gone well, so every offseason we paint a little bit before he comes back.
“I don’t forget that when he went to Juventus, it was a great resolution, but he thought he would have more opportunities. It’s very brave to go alone, but Samuel is really a great young man, very polite, with an intelligent circle of friends. relatives and without epass. So it’s fantastic to see him reap the rewards.
“He’s immersed in the culture: he speaks Italian and loves the culture. Sam has had to be patient this season to take advantage of this opportunity, but he still works hard and is willing to learn.
After new regulations were introduced following Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years in 2018, allowing clubs to include an under-23 team in Serie C, Iling-Junior played alongside Stephy Mavididi, Arsenal’s former academy. . player who is now at Leicester, in a team that later became known as Juventus Next Generation. He was promoted to the first team in December 2022 after making his Champions League debut against Benfica and provided a brilliant cross for a volley from Arkadiusz Milik in a 4-3 defeat that pleased Isaksson-Hurst.
“They gave me some fantastic snippets of things we were running in education a few weeks earlier and it was smart to see him do precisely the kind of thing in such an important game,” he said. “We work to give him the ball and be able to dominate his opponent. And then, of course, the final product, which in his position is made up of forward passes, shots and crosses. It’s basically about the last third play and how to be effective and efficient in front of goal.
“He has the strategy of a street player but also the body to match. He’s the better combination of the two and he’s also a very smart player.
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Iling-Junior’s versatility has led him to be deployed as a winger through Allegri and he feels comfortable betting in the positions. Isaksson-Hurst believes this can only be an advantage. “Samuel is unique because he is very technical and can use both feet. Which allows him to play anywhere,” he says. “They gave him everything.
“Football is also about opportunities, so now he has to try to take advantage of them. He, too, has the mindset to succeed. Even now I communicate with him and he doesn’t get carried away with things. He’s still the same kid from Highbury who had a very humble upbringing.
Isaksson-Hurst’s clients also include Chelsea’s Noni Madueke, a former PSV Eindhoven player, and Folarin Balogun, who joined Monaco from Arsenal last summer, and is fully praised for his decision to move at such a tender age. “You have to be brave and brave to create opportunities, and that’s what Samuel did,” he says. “It’s wonderful to see so many young England players thrive. “
This article was modified on January 12, 2024. The youth team that Samuel Iling-Junior played for is called Clissold Rangers, not Clissold Park Rangers, as a previous edition said.