Diego De Girolamo was once regarded as one of Sheffield United's brightest academy prospects, represented Italy at youth level and was linked with a move to Juventus. Now 30, the forward has moved to the seventh-tier after a career that has taken plenty of unexpected turns.
Diego De Girolamo, the former Sheffield United protege once linked with a big move to Italian giants Juventus, has made the latest move of his career after joining a seventh-tier club this week. The forward, now 30, came through the academy set-up at Bramall Lane.
But his time at United never really sparked, with his number of first-team appearances just about ticking into double figures before he departed in 2016 after a few loan spells. His career, disrupted by a few injuries along the way, never reached the same level again.
A move to Buxton reignited his love for football, alongside work as a self-employed tiler, and a seven-year spell which brought 120 goals in 230 appearances - and saw him labelled a “hero” in Buxton’s statement about his departure - came to an end last summer.
Spells with Macclesfield and Matlock Town followed and over the weekend, the former Italian youth international signed for AFC Emley, fresh from their promotion to the Northern Premier League’s Premier Division.
De Girolamo’s name is still spoken about with some intrigue amongst Unitedites, who remember the noise around the youngster when he came through the ranks at Bramall Lane. Born in Chesterfield with an Italian father, he made his Blades debut at 17 and played for Italy’s U18s alongside a future European Championship winner in Bryan Cristante.
In an interview with the Guardian in 2021 De Girolamo remembered being approached by Roberto Mancini about the prospect of joining Manchester City and there were frequent mentions of the Juventus interest during his time at Bramall Lane, although the exact origins of the reports were never clear.
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He was transfer listed by current United chief Chris Wilder when he first arrived back in 2016, having played under him at Northampton Town, and said of his United time: “I couldn’t play football for a year.
“I had a few setbacks as you never come back from an ACL injury and return flying; I had problems with my hamstrings and calves, so it did set me back a year or two, but I can’t complain. I didn’t get the big move that I wanted but I still managed to go out on loan for a couple of seasons in League Two and scored goals.
On his Italian U18 call-up, he remebered: “At first I thought it was a joke. I wasn’t driving at Sheffield United, I made my debut a couple of weeks beforehand and my dad picked me up from Shirecliffe.
“He said: ‘You’re going to Russia next month.’ I asked what for and he explained: ‘You’ve been picked to play for Italy Under-18s.’ After about 10 to 15 minutes it sunk in. It was amazing. Don’t get me wrong, when you’re a young lad coming up the ranks at Sheffield United, you do get treated very well.
“But when you play for your national team, you get treated like kings; anything you want or need, it was just brilliant. Going out and playing was an unbelievable feeling, I remember scoring in my first start in that tournament and I looked over to see my dad going mad.”
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