An ‘assist machine’ with ‘shades of Rafael Leao’ – Who is Juventus’ English starlet Samuel Iling-Junior?

There are objectively few things more exciting for fans of English football than young players been given a chance abroad.

For so long English players barely ventured outside of the Premier League until the likes of Jadon Sancho started to break down barriers – and now players like Jude Bellingham, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham are thriving abroad.

And given how hard it still is for talented young players to be given a chance at big Premier League clubs, it’s still very exciting to see them flourishing in Europe.

A perfect example of this is former Chelsea player Samuel Iling-Junior, who has become a surprisingly important player for Italian giants Juventus in the past few weeks.

The 19-year-old has become more and more trusted by Juve manager Max Allegri, either from the start of more often as a potential game-changer off the bench.

Ahead of the Old Lady’s return leg against Sevilla in the Europa League semi-finals we get in touch with Michele Neri from Eurosport Italy for more information about the latest rising English star.

We start by asking what kind of player is Iling-Junior?

“Iling Junior is a very quick player, who loves to take on opposing full-backs and attack the vertical spaces, in a very direct way,” Neri explains.

“He is a left winger who can also play as a right winger if needed.

“He has a great sense for dribbling and a speed from a standing start that other Juventus players do not have.

“In these qualities you can absolutely see shades of Rafael Leao when the AC Milan superstar was a bit younger. Of course he is certainly less impactful today than Leao is and has a long way to go to reach the Portuguese’s level.

“However, with the first team he has only scored one goal so far… so in terms of the next thing to work on I would say he can turn more chances into goals.”

Neri admits that there was practically no noise when Iling-Junior signed and even when he was given his debut by Allegri there was complete surprise.

However they are able to pinpoint the moment when Juventus fans became believers.

“The fans went crazy for him after the Benfica game where he played 20 minutes and really shone, providing an assist to Milik.

“But then, due to injuries, he was not used more consistently by Allegri. However the fans appreciated him anyway, because he could get past opponents with great ease. Something only Chiesa is capable of doing in this current team.

“In Bergamo [against Atalanta] recently he played for the first time from start in Serie A and scored. Some of the fans would like to see him on the pitch more often. Because he is young, can still grow a lot and is already a threat to the opponents.”

“It’s difficult,” says Neri. “I expect a very complicated match, where the little details will make the difference in terms of who will reach the final.

“That is why, if I were Allegri, I would keep Iling Junior on the bench in Seville, as you have the likes of Angel Di Maria, Filip Kostic, Federico Chiesa and other players who are more experienced, and have already played matches at this level.

“However, Iling Junior could be the right man in the second half when he can start attacking tired full-backs.

“As for other matches for the rest of the season, I would try to give Iling Junior more minutes gradually. But it is true that the Juventus roster, when there are no injured players, is full of top players, especially in attack. But it is very good that Iling Junior has already proved to be a talented option, if he continues like this he can win the starting spot in the future.”

That brings us to the elephant in the room, Allegri himself. We won’t go into all of the frustrations Juve fans have with their manager but there are concerns over his style of football and unwillingness to give young players a chance. Is there an alternative universe where Iling-Junior is even more important than he is now?

“I find it very difficult to speculate on this,” Neri admits.

“Certainly Allegri’s Juventus do not create as many chances as Inzaghi’s Inter or Spalletti’s Napoli, for examples. So Juventus’ football is underdeveloped offensively.

“However, Juventus do play on the counter a lot, where Iling-Junior’s qualities emerge. And Allegri must be given credit for keeping the team solid in a season full of shocks. With another coach, perhaps the team would have collapsed and even the talent would have been lost.”

So maybe Allegri being the manager of the team isn’t so bad Iling-Junior. All eyes will be on him tomorrow if Juve need a spark, perhaps it can be the first chapter of a great love story between the historic Italian club and this rising English star.