European legends Marco van Basten, Baresi watch 18yo Zeroli make Serie A debut for AC Milan

European legends Marco van Basten and Franco Baresi were in attendance at the iconic Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on Saturday evening as Nigeria-eligible central midfielder Kevin Zeroli made his Serie A debut for AC Milan.

Sitting next to the Dutchman in the stands were Franco Baresi and another former AC Milan player Mauro Tassotti.

Born in Busto Arsizio in 2015 to an Italian father and a Nigerian mother, Zeroli was promoted to Milan's first team on a temporary basis on the back of his outstanding form for the Primavera squad. 

The Italian-Nigerian youngster is the captain of AC Milan U19 team, for whom he has scored five goals and registered two assists in nineteen appearances so far this season.

Against US Sassuolo and with sixteen minutes to go, AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli handed Zeroli his senior debut, bringing him on to replace Chelsea old boy Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Zeroli, wearing the number 85 on the back of his jersey,  eventually shared the same pitch with Super Eagles winger Samuel Chuwkueze who entered the game as a substitute in the 81st minute, and the likes of Simon Kjaer, Rafael Leão and Christian Pulisic.

Before making his Serie A debut, Zeroli was a non-playing substitute against Bologna and Salernitana this season. 

The 18-year-old became provisionally cap-tied to his country of birth last month when he started an U19 Euro qualifier against Liechtenstein.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: acmilan.com

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