Il Secolo XIX: Milan in the race to recruit a young player from Sampdoria

Several top Italian clubs are keen on signing Giovanni Leoni and AC Milan have been credited with an interest according to a report today.

According to Il Secolo XIX (via Calciomercato.com), the race for Leoni is on. The 17-year-old may have flown under the radar given his Serie B presence with Sampdoria, but he has immediately established himself as the jewel in Andrea Pirlo's squad.

He only arrived in Liguria from Padova in January, but Sampdoria saw enough to buy him permanently for €1.5m, also assuming there would be a queue for the young defender, and it seems so far that they were right.

Il Secolo XIX reports how a battle has broken out between the big Italian teams for Leoni, with Napoli, Juventus, Milan and Inter making offers, with Sampdoria keen to cash in on his sale and, crucially, wanting to keep the player on loan for a further year.

Agent Edoardo Crnjar was spotted at the Nerazzurri headquarters yesterday, suggesting Inter were serious, but in the meantime Leoni is trying to focus on the Italy Under-19s after being called up by Bernardo Corradi for the second pre-European Championship camp in Northern Ireland.

Milan are showing their willingness to invest in the future and in their Milan Futuro project, as Gabriele Minotti is currently undergoing a medical and will join Giana Erminio's U23 team.