Gianluca Gaetano

Gianluca Gaetano (Italian pronunciation: [dʒanˈluːka ɡaeˈtaːno]; born 5 May 2000) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a left winger for Serie A club Napoli.

He is an academy graduate of Napoli, having joined the club in 2011, and the youngest-ever player in the club's history to have signed a professional contract with the club at the age of 16. On 10 December 2019, Gaetano made his debut in UEFA Champions League against Belgian side Genk.

Club Career

Early youth career

Born in Cimitile in Southern Italy just North-East of Naples, Gaetano got his football start with the local team ASD Future Boys di Cimitile at the age of five. During this time at the club, he played with his older brother Felice. While at ASD Future Boys di Cimitile, he along with his older brother were spotted by a Napoli scout, joining their youth system in 2011. Gaetano joined the youth academy of Napoli in 2010,5, and worked his way up through their youth categories.

In the 2017/18 Season Gaetano went on to score 17 goals with 14 assists in all youth competitions forming a formidable partnership with fellow youth player Ciro Palmieri.

In the 2018/2019 season Gaetano managed to score 5 goals in 6 games in the UEFA Youth League where he stood out against some of the best youth in Europe, his first goal in the competition would come in the 94th minute in a game against Liverpool that ended in a 1-1 draw, he also managed to score a hatrick against Red Star Belgrade in a game Napoli went on to win 5-3.

He went on to Captain the Youth team and scored 22 goals with 8 assists in all competitions which was enough for him to be called up by the Napoli first team by manager Carlo Ancelotti and get his first professional debut for the Napoli first team.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Джанлука Гаэтано (russian)