Have Juventus snapped up Serie A’s next Superstar?

When Sassuolo were negotiating with Juventus this past summer over the Banconeri’s versatile midfielder-cum defender Luca Marrone, an interesting proposition was put forth. Juventus said that they could have a 50% stake in him if they in turn got 50% of Domenico Berardi, who would be loaned back to them for the current season. At the time, interest in Berardi was sky high after his goal scoring exploits saw him finish Sassuolo’s joint top scorer with 11 goals.

Berardi’s impressive displays had not only earned his side a spot in Serie A, but also alerted both Manchester clubs, who were supposedly monitoring his situation. But the Italian forward was keen on staying at Sassuolo for at least another year and Juventus’s offer suited the club just fine and an agreement was reached between the two clubs. Whilst it was evident already that Berardi had bucket loads of talent, his splendid start to his first Serie A campaign has come as a surprise for all concerned.

The story of Berardi is unique and his rise has been meteoric as just three years ago, the supremely talented youngster was without a club. But, that was only until a road trip to Modena to see his brother, Francesco, which changed his life, once and for all. Back in 2010, although Berardi was just 16, he had no takers for him back home in Calabria and, it was a five-a-side game with his brother’s friends that changed his fortunes. Although he was playing with kids a lot other than he was, he stood out and one of them even remarked “He must be a professional.” But, although Berardi wasn’t, a friend of his brother’s knew Luciano Carlino, the head of the Sassuolo’s youth system and got him a trial and the rest, as they say, is history.

There was a slight hiccup early on, as there were some issues with his registration, which meant that he could only play friendlies. But once that was sorted out, he started playing for Sassuolo’s Allievi [their Under-16s] and in a year’s time, he graduated to the Primavera [their senior youth team]. After seeing him play for the very first time, his coach Paolo Mandelli knew that Sassuolo had something special on their hands.

And, by the end of the 2010/11 season, he was on the fringes of the first team and finally made it into the first team squad for their play-off with Sampdoria. Berardi had to wait till the start of the 2012-13 campaign in Serie B to start his first game for Sassuolo. Cesena were the opponents in his debut match and although Berardi didn’t score in Sassuolo’s opening day 3-0 win at the Dino Manuzzi, he showed glimpses of just what he can do and got his first senior goal a week later, at home to Crotone.

Ever since then, Berardi hasn’t looked back and went onto finish his first season as Sassuolo’s joint top scorer, with 11 goals, a record he shared with three other players. On the final day of the season, Sassuolo knew they that they had to avoid defeat against Livorno to ensure that they won the Cadetto. Although Sassuolo held their nerve and won a close encounter 1-0, Berardi was shown a red card, which meant that he was ineligible to play their first three games of the Serie A campaign.

Over the summer, he was called up to the Italy’s Under-19s, but he didn’t respond, which resulted in him being banned from representing his country for nine months and will only be eligible for selection again in March 2014.

Sassuolo got off to a disastrous start, which saw them lose five of their opening six games, including the 7-0 obliteration by Inter. Although Berardi was available for selection after the defeat to Torino, Coach Di Francesco didn’t make use of him, until the game against Napoli. Having played a Zdenek Zeman derived 4-3-3 until then, Sassuolo switched to a 3-5-2 and started Berardi up front and it worked as they drew 1-1 and managed to stop the rot.

Ever since Berardi was brought back into the side, Sassuolo have lost just twice and Berardi has scored six in seven games, averaging a goal every 94 minutes with an astonishing 32% conversion rate. Giuseppe Rossi [10] and Alessio Cerci [7] are the only two Italians, who have scored more than Berardi. And it is not just his goals, one of his major strengths has been his ability to hold the ball up and bring his team mates into play. He averages 1.4 key passes per game and perhaps his biggest strength is his movement and positioning off the ball. In fact, no Serie A striker has averaged more tackles per game this season as Berardi.

Whilst Berardi is talented, what sets his apart, at least according to Mandelli, is “a mental strength that’s out of the ordinary.” And testament to this is the fact that four of his six goals have come from the penalty spot. His calmness and self-belief when he steps up to the penalty spot, is akin to Mario Balotelli. Although he is just 19, he already has a hat-trick to his name, in doing so, became only the sixth player to have scored a hat-trick before turning 20.

Among the list of five that have scored a hat-trick at the age of 19, a certain Alessandro Del Piero is present and Juventus will be more than pleased if Berardi turns out to be half the player Del Piero was. Whilst expectations around Berardi are certainly sky high, Il Berra or Berardinho as he’s known, is someone who has the talent to make those expectations a reality.