“For me he was the best on the pitch, absolutely. He had to face players who play in teams like Tottenham and Newcastle: despite this, he played a great match”: the certificate of esteem comes directly from Sylvinho, former player – among others – of Arsenal and Barcelona and who therefore knows how to recognize if someone is enough for a big team. And for the current technical commissioner of Albania, Mario Mitaj it is and how.
In last Monday's friendly against Sweden, the Rossoneri national team lost 1-0, but the full-back born in 2000 he managed to manage Kulusevski without too much trouble, demonstrating once again all its solidity in the defensive phase. A skill that, according to Tuttosportwould be pushing the Juventus to focus on him to strengthen the left-handed lane. Some Juventus emissaries have already supervised him from the stands of the Tardini in Parma on the occasion of the match, also a friendly one, against Chile. Albania was defeated with a resounding 3-0, but even on that occasion Mitaj was He was one of the few to save himself by offering an encouraging performance.
In June Juve will say goodbye to Alex Sandro, whose contract expiring in June will not be renewed, and will find himself with an empty slot on the left. A low-cost profile could fill it, just like Mario Mitaj, who today plays in Russia, with the Lokomotiv Moscow shirt, and is evaluated between 8 and 10 million euros.
But what type of player is this? We are certainly not dealing with a pushing full-back, nor with a particularly technical player. Mitaj he finished all of his career seasons with 0 goals and 0 assists on the scoresheet, except for the 6 assists scored all in the 2021-22 season. However, what makes him attractive, in addition to the economic aspect, is his flexibility: although he was born as a traditional left-back, the 2003-born player was also used as the fourth of a four or five-man midfield, as a central defender and even as a midfielder in front of the defense with clear interdiction tasks.
He is therefore a player whose signing would involve reduced costs but who still has excellent margins for improvement. In short, an investment that can only pay off. In the summer we will see Mitaj at work closely as his Albania will be in the same group as Italy a Euro 2024. There, however, we will have to hope that the excellent rumors about him suffer a setback.
