Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City 'battling for AC Milan's Francesco Camarda'

The 15-year-old became the youngest-ever player in Serie A on Saturday evening, coming off the bench in the Rossoneri's 1-0 win over Fiorentina at just 15 years and 260 days old.

Camarda beat the previous record - set by Bologna defender Wisdom Amey in 2021 - by two weeks, taking advantage of Olivier Giroud and Noah Okafor's absences through suspension and injury respectively.

Stefano Pioli's side had to obtain special permission to include Camarda in the squad given that the 2008-born striker has not yet celebrated his 16th birthday, but after being given the green light, the Milan boss brought him on as an 83rd-minute replacement for Luka Jovic.

Prior to his historic first-team promotion, Camarda supposedly found the back of the net an astounding 485 times in 89 games for the Milan academy and was invited to train with the Under-19s as a 14-year-old.

The striker has already scored seven goals and registered two assists in 13 games for the Rossoneri's Primavera team this season, including a brace and assist in a 4-0 UEFA Youth League thumping of Newcastle United.

Camarda - who already stands at 6ft tall - also has four goals and one assist under his belt from six matches for Italy's Under-17s, and his exploits are understandably attracting attention from some of Europe's elite teams.

According to 90min, Premier League giants Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City are among the interested parties keeping tabs on the striker's progress, and Milan are currently vulnerable to losing their highly-rated protege.

While Milan have allegedly promised Camarda that he will play a major role in the club's future, the attacker cannot sign a professional deal with the Rossoneri until he turns 16 in March 2024.

Camarda's family are said to have been contacted by all of Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City with regards to a deal, as the Premier League trio seek to fend off interest from elsewhere in Europe.

Despite the lure of some of the continent's richest clubs, the report adds that Camarda is expected to pen a professional deal at Milan next year, as he and his family remain comfortable in their homeland.

For the time being, though, the Italian giants remain concerned about the outside interest in the teenager, whom Pioli said did not show his age ahead of his groundbreaking debut at the weekend.

"Camarda? Looking at him now he doesn't show his age, he's serene but we are accompanying him with balance and with a smile suitable for his age," the Milan boss told Sky Italia.

"Destiny sometimes creates opportunities for you, we will need to be good at accompanying him in his growth because we are talking about a very young boy.

"From a character point of view Camarda is very mature, he is ready to give us a hand if needed, in these days he has done very well. I'm sure he'll have a great future."

Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund have also been credited with an interest in Camarda.