The journey to the ultimately victorious Youth League eighthlap at Manchester United (3: 1 i. E.) joined Filippo Calixte Mane full of anticipation. His ticket he kept grinning in his hand, when the Media Department of the BVB at the beginning of this week in the Dortmund airport illuminated – for the first time since his change from Sampdoria Genoa, the 16-year-old found himself in the mandatory squad of the U 19 again. His debut is still waiting, but that should follow soon.
“We want to get him slowly to the U-19 area,” says Dortmund’s NLZ Director Lars Ricken the Youth League. “He is currently still U-17 players,” had probably problems with the knee and a corona infection. Meanwhile, “fully in training” will receive more and more playing time in the future – at BVB and probably at the end of March at the EM qualifying round with Italy’s U-17 national team, “so we can prepare him well for the next U-19 season “.
Filippo is physically far for his age, well in the duel and header.
Mike Tullberg
That Mane give this time, be “very nice to see”, so ricken, who describes the new top talent as “extremely strong, fast internal chest with a good starting game”. U-19 coach Mike Tullberg emphasizes: “Filippo is physically far for his age, well in the duel and header.” His construction is “good, but he has to improve further – and especially to get to know our way of playing. The football here is more intense than in Italy. He has to adapt to it”.
These are the next tasks for the 1.88 meter-long man, which defends outside, half-lawy or far right outside and last Saturday at 2: 1 against the 1st FC Cologne with the U 17 on the square. “Because he was out for longer, we deliberately let him play there for 80 minutes,” says Tullberg. “He has put it away well.” Now you arrived in the U-19 circle. “The necessary time to make him the best possible way, we will all give each other,” says Ricken.