Gabriel Martinelli is one of Atalanta Primavera’s latest signings. Native of Pumenengo, in the Bergamo province, Gabriel looks back on an extensive hands-on experience of amateur football before that fated call-up from Atalanta last summer, days after having turned 18: “Being a Bergamasco born and bred, to be handed the honour of playing for Atalanta is the biggest possible aspiration, you can’t get any better than this”.
“Rather than as an end in itself – Gabriel cares to enlarge on the subject- I see it as a launching point to keep bettering myself in the hope of fulfilling my dream of becoming a pro one day. The excitement I felt when we sparred with the First Team in a training match is still fresh: for the first time ever, I had the pleasure to cross my path with fully-fledged Serie A players. Moreover, last week, due to the International break, I underwent a couple of training sessions with some of them: needless to say, it was an amazing experience through and through. I’ve tried my best to learn as much as possible as I kept my eyes peeled on the likes of Éderson and Adopo, two first-team doppelgangers of mine. Off the record, had I to pick the “apple of my eyes”, I’d say Muriel with no second thoughts whatsoever: the way he seemingly “caresses” the ball and his technique are nothing short of exquisite”.
Such rather unusual soft spot is no coincidence at all, giving away Manuel’s origins: “To be fair, I moved my first steps upfront as a striker; over the years I was moved back: first to the wing and then in the midfield, where I finally established myself as a mezzala. Being adaptability one of my traits, I also played as a wingback and a right-back a handful of times this season”. In next to no time, Manuel managed to carve out a space for himself, with his starts in all the league matches played such far as a testament: “I’m kind of amazed myself by all the playing time accrued thus far! Naturally, this is a huge boost of trust and it does wonder to my fortitude and overall approach. On the other hand, I know that the journey ahead is long with much that still needs to be done”.
Gabriel’s story is uncommon, as he did not spend his youth years in the youth academy of a professional club. “To be honest, I started playing football quite late. I mainly swam until the age of ten and I was rather good at it. At a certain point, I also began competing. I have a lot of medals back home, as I would always finish first in freestyle and my coaches told me I could have a future in that sport. However, I wanted to play football. I’m still keeping a photo from when I was thirteen months old and I was kicking a crumpled can in the shape of a ball in the streets. It was my elder brother Joele, who is thirteen years older than me, who passed the passion for football down to me; while it grew on my father Giorgio as time went by: I owe him much for all the sacrifices he made to support me and to ferry me around to training. I started playing close to home in Urago d’Oglio, before moving to Romanese and then Forza & Costanza. Then I spent 4 years at Virtus Ciserano Bergamo, climbing up the Academy ladder from the U15s all the way up to the first team. While the first turning point occurred when I was an Under 17 player, I spent the whole last season torn between Juniores and First Team commitments: playing in the Serie D against senior opponents has been a truly formative experience, which could prove itself useful in my current stint for the Primavera”.
