An Italian gem Guinea is craving for

He came in as a sub and after only seven minutes scored a first goal for Milan against Juventus after 658 minutes. A boy who was playing in Serie B just a few months ago received the ball on the left, then casually, as if he does it every day – left Manuel Locatelli in the dust, composed himself and curled the ball into the far corner past Guglielmo Vicario. As if scoring in one of the biggest derbies in Italian football were the most normal thing in the world. Away from home, with an entire stadium booing you. Alphadjo Cisse (19) managed to do all of that and once again showed that he is currently the biggest sensation in Italian football, while also proving that Milan made a shrewd move when they signed him from Verona for eight million euros last January.🇮🇹⭐️ 𝐀𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐨 𝐂𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞 (𝟏𝟗) against Juventus: • 29 Minutes • 1 GOAL• 100% Shot Accuracy • 100% Accurate Passes• 9 Touches𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑. 🚀 pic.twitter.com/utUubwPLLn— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) September 6, 2026 The story of Alphadjo Cisse began in a peripheral district of Treviso called San Liberale. Built in 1958, it was intended as a refuge for people displaced by the bombings of the Second World War. San Liberale offered them a chance to start a new life. It was a quiet, working-class neighborhood where Alphadjo's parents settled after emigrating from Guinea. His father worked in a local factory, while his mother was a hotel maid. Their mantra in life was a simple one – work, work and more work. His father got up at four every morning, went to work and stayed there until five in the afternoon, before rushing home to take Alphadjo to training. That work ethic, and the mantra itself, were drilled into Cisse from an early age. That is why you never see him on the pitch boasting or provoking opponents. He keeps quiet, works hard and waits for his five minutes to shine."Cisse? I'm happy with all my players. We need to pay attention to the young players in launch pad, I want to be cautious because nowadays in football there is a tendency to over-hype players too soon. Obviously I'm really happy for him."— 🇵🇹🗣️ Ruben Amorim on Alpahadjo Cisse pic.twitter.com/uT5PMREXMd— Calcio FC | 𝑒𝑛. (@CalcioFCEN) September 7, 2026 At first, kicking a ball around was nothing more than a hobby, something for a child to occupy himself with. Then, at the age of 11, he joined the youth academy of a club called Giorgione. That was where he was labeled a child prodigy.“He would take the ball in his own penalty area, run the entire length of the pitch and score. Nobody could stop him. When he wasn't on the pitch, his teammates looked lost. It is hard to count how many goals he scored” said Michele Coco, one of Cisse’s first coaches.Italian kid of Guinea descent gives Amorim his first winHe enjoyed complete freedom under his coaches, but before he was given it, he had to rise to a rather unusual challenge. In 1992, Marco van Basten scored a spectacular scissor-kick against IFK Goteborg in the Champions League. Alphadjo's task was very simple: the coach walked over to him and said, “Do the same.” Challenge accepted. Once – bang! A second time – bang! A third time – bang! That was it.“At 12, Alphadjo looked on the pitch as if he were playing against grown men. He had a natural feel for space and the game that cannot be taught in training – you either have it or you don't”.Turkey still shaking: Leao to Galatasaray!There was no way he was going to go unnoticed, and Verona were the first to spot him. They wasted no time snapping him up at 14 and left him to develop through the club's youth ranks. Three years later, the Primavera had become too small for him. He had to take the next step into senior football, but in the city of Romeo and Juliet, he simply could not break through. Verona were constantly fighting for survival and did not have the luxury of giving their academy graduates time to develop in the first team.He played just two matches over two seasons, a total of 14 minutes on the pitch, with his final appearance coming against Milan. The Rossoneri had already spotted him while he was still in the Primavera and began keeping tabs on him, fully aware that an exceptional talent was right in front of them. Eventually, they managed to snatch him away at the very last moment of the transfer window.“In January, everything was practically agreed with PSV. Then Milan entered the picture and I changed my mind in a second. It was incredibly easy to choose this club” Cisse recalled.##NAJAVA_MECA_9936769##Aware that he had outgrown the Primavera, Milan's hierarchy sent him on loan to Catanzaro, a Serie B side. Playing in such a rigid competition, where attacking players often struggle to express themselves, actually turned out to be a stroke of genius. He scored a respectable six goals in 22 appearances, and Ruben Amorim was immediately impressed by what he saw from Cisse during pre-season, beginning to consider him an option on the wings. It turned out to be an inspired decision. He was already on the scoresheet against Torino on the opening day of Serie A.“I couldn't even dream that one day I would score a goal for Milan. My next dream is to buy my parents a new house. I hope I will soon have enough money to make them stop working. My parents never made me feel inferior” Cisse said.##EDITORS_CHOICE##His parents could not attend the game against Torino – they were at work – but they probably could not have imagined the praise their son would soon receive. Strahinja Pavlović said Cisse plays as if he already has 200 Serie A appearances under his belt. Amorim trusts him as though he were a loyal soldier following him throughout his career, but the biggest compliment came from Massimo Ambrosini, the former Milan player who is now an analyst.“In the way he carries the ball, changes pace and moves around the pitch, Alphadjo reminds me irresistibly of Robinho,” Ambrosini said. When a man who played alongside Robinho at Milan says something like that, you know there must be something special there. A boy who had barely had a taste of senior football before arriving at Milan is now enjoying the finest moments of his young career. And through it all, he remains calm, humble and hardworking. Exactly the way his parents raised him.SERIE A – MATCHDAY 3FridayGenoa – Como 1-4 (1-3)/Osmajic 19 – Baturina 25, Diao 30, 78, Paz 40SaturdayFiorentina – Torino 1-2 (0-0)/Pellegrino 47 – Mandragora 74, Adams 82/Inter – Napoli 3-2 (0-0)/Lautaro 56, 90+1, Thuram 82 – Politano 50, Hojlund 53/Roma – Atalanta 2-1 (0-0)/Hermoso 89, Soule 90+2 – Ederson 47/SundayFrosinone – Venezia 3-2 (2-0)/Raimondo 21,39, Kvernadze 83 – Jeboah 66, Sagrado 74/Parma – Monza 1-1 (0-1)/Lontani 60 – Robinson 38/Bologna – Sassuolo 2-2 (0-1)/Piccoli 50, Dovbyk 90+1 – Doig 19, Adzic 56/Juventus – Milan 1-1 (0-0)/Gatti 90+2 – Cisse 68/Monday20.30: (1.97) Cagliari (3.35) Lecce (4.10) 22.45: (2.95) Udinese (3.15) Lazio (2.55) ***odds are subject to change***