Introducing Udinese's Italian Simone Scuffet. At just 17 years of age, Scuffet is now one of the first names on Francesco Guidolin's team sheet since his debut at Bologna. At the start of the season, Scuffet was considered fourth choice keeper in Udinese's ranks, however has come on leaps and bounds and is now even tipped to be a part of the World Cup in Cesare Prandelli's squad, all be it a understudy to Buffon and PSG's Salvatore Sirigu.
Scuffet's fairytale promotion to first team football is quite the story. On the 1st of February, Scuffet made his unexpected debut after first choice keeper Zeljko Brkic suffered an injury in the warm up. Five minutes before kick off and much to the confusion of the Udinese faithful, it was announced that Scuffet was to start ahead of reserve keeper Ivan Kelava and went on to keep a clean sheet and produce a top performance with Udinese winning 2-0.
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| Scuffet has spoken about how his idol is Inter Milan's Samir Handanovic |
Post match, praises were quick to be heaped upon the young debutant and similarities to a certain Gianluigi Buffon were quickly drawn. Scuffet was confident, commanding and assured in his debut, preventing Bologna from scoring with some impressive saves. The Italian media were quick to state, Buffon produced a clean sheet and a fearless performance like Scuffet when he debuted at the tender age of 17.
Scuffet is dominant in the box, agile in the save and quick to react to the very first hint of danger. Since his debut, Scuffet has continued as Udinese's number one despite Brkic recovering from the injury that initially gifted Scuffet his chance in the side. A series of impressive performances at Chievo, Atlanta and Caligari has meant Brkic has been unable to reclaim his position in the squad.
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| Scuffet has spoke on comparisons to Buffon. He said: "It would be wonderful and a dream to follow Buffon's footsteps." |
Despite having only featured in a handful of games, clubs are already circling the young shot stopper. Interest has already been confirmed by Udinese's sporting director Cristano Giaretta from AC Milan, but was quick to underline he is not leaving any time soon. Giaretta said: "There was a brief meeting, but nothing concrete. And as for the future, I can say that he will not be on the market for next season."
Scuffet has also spoke of how his season has gone and what the near future entails. The teenager said: "For now, I am very happy and I'll wait and see what happens next season. If I think that at the start of this year I was Udinese's fourth-choice keeper, then knowing I am now a starter is something of which I can be truly proud."
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| Scuffet, accompanied by his youthful looks, has represented Italy at the U17 level. |
Scuffet could well make the plane to the Brazil and has even had backing from Buffon himself, who claimed: "He deserves it." Of course the parallels to Buffon are there, Scuffet knows better than anyone he has a long way to go before he is anywhere near that standard. There is plenty of hype surrounding the teenager and if he can continue to produce the way he has in his first 10 appearances, Scuffet could become one of the hottest properties in Europe.
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