Simone Minelli
Country: Italy
Date of birth: 08/01/1997 (18 years old)
Place of birth: Carpi (Italy)
Height: 166cm
Youth career: Dorando Pietri Carpi, Reggiana, Fiorentina (since 2011)
Current club: Fiorentina
Squad number: 43
Current national team: Italy U-18
Position: attacking midfielder, winger
Preferred foot: right
Market value (by transfermarkt.de): 100,000 €
Tournaments participated in: 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round (2/0), Viareggio Cup 2015 (5/3)
Contract until: unknown
Player’s agent: unknown
Similar type of player: combined playing styles of Mathieu Valbuena & Dries Mertens
Strengths:
– pace 
– acceleration
– dribbling
– flair
– balance 
– agility 
– dynamism
– technique
– creativity 
Style of play:
– flamboyant winger/trequartista
– likes to dribble
– fantasista
– likes to be given a free role
– likes to cut inside
– plays with a natural flair and is dangerous in the box
– all-action and energetic
– agile and moves the ball with ease
– likes to play a direct style by running straight at defenders with pace
He is best suited to playing as:
Left winger in 4-3-3.
Video:
Achievements:
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League summary:
No senior team appearances yet.
Description:
Simone Minelli joined Fiorentina youth academy in 2011 from Reggiana. He’s been thought of as a big talent from the early years. He made his senior debut on 11 December 2014 against Dinamo Minsk in a UEFA Europa League game – he replaced Juan Cuadrado after 24 minutes in a 1-2 home defeat and after this first game he received a lot of praise. He was a key player for Fiorentina in Viareggio Cup 2015 – one of the most important youth tournaments in the world, but unfortunately, his team fell to Hellas Verona in the semi-final. He has been a youth Italy international for many years – starting at U-15 all the way through U-18.
Quotes:
“The other, much more pleasing thing about this soon to be forgotten match is – Simone Minelli. The young forward, born in 1997 was by some distance the best in Fiorentina, and came close to scoring a goal on two occasions and assisted for the consolation goal, scored by Marko Marin. In some ways, Minelli resembles Juan Cuadrado – short, very quck and technical. It’s, of course, way too early to do that kind of comparisons, but what the hell, after the game like this one, what else can we do?”
(violanation.com – after Minelli’s debut against Dinamo Minsk)
Football Talent Scout potential rating:
8/10 
First team material in a top European club.
Links: