Angeloni: "Return to the maximum age of 19 for the Primavera"

Valentino Angeloni, the sporting director of Fiorentina's youth sector, spoke at the panel "What age for the Primavera?" organized by Serie A before the Primavera Super Cup final. He stated, "For me, we have the players; the obstacle is our coaches telling us they aren't ready. However, there's a fact: if a young player has specific or exceptional qualities, and they understand the coach is counting on them, they have infinite possibilities. I think of Kayode: he had excellent qualities, yes, physical ones. Technical ones? Embarrassing. We have the talent; we need to set rules on playing time or create something different that allows for a different outlet."

Primavera Appearance Cap

"Returning to a maximum age of 19 for the Primavera could be an idea," confessed the director. "However, we must consider that Primavera 2 has different age groups, and we must consider that each player can have their own path. There are many players who have reached the national team by progressing through the lower categories. A cap on appearances in the Primavera? That can be evaluated, as playing 80 matches in the Primavera clearly doesn't make sense. We have cases of late bloomers, speaking from my own experience, but it's up to us to create a system and rules. If we only let a few decide, we will lose our young players. Every team, even the smallest, has players to launch. However, it depends on the cases: that late bloomer, who might explode after 20 extra matches, could have benefited from it. And then we need to coordinate the age groups: they are all different, from UEFA to Serie C. We have a different system both within our leagues and compared to abroad."