AC Milan man Patrick Cutrone is the hungriest striker in Serie A, according to former Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi.
The young forward has enjoyed a good career with Milan since breaking through to the first team at the start of the 2017/18 season.
Cutrone, 20, managed 18 goals in all competitions for Milan last year, including 10 in Serie A from just 17 starts – a further 11 appearances came from the substitute bench.
The Italian’s playing time has been cut short this season following the summer loan-signing of Gonzalo Higuain, scoring three goals in all competitions – coming from just 99 minutes of action, a goal every 33 minutes.
Despite this lack of playing time, Materazzi believes Cutrone is still reaping the rewards for his hard work.
“The great thing about Patrick Cutrone is that every goal he has ever scored was because he went looking for it,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football Italia).
“He’s the hungriest striker in Serie A.”
Materazzi also went on to praise Inter Milan’s own young striker, Lautaro Martinez, who joined the Nerazzuri in the summer.
The 21-year-old has managed one goal in four Serie A appearances so far, though is currently being kept out of the starting XI by Mauro Icardi.
Materazzi added: “Lautaro Martinez is unabashed and therefore the right man for a derby. He can play with Icardi, but only if it’s a 4-4-1-1. Mauro doesn’t want anyone too close to him.”
Cutrone and Martinez could face off against each other in the Milan Derby on Sunday when AC Milan and Inter go head-to-head.
Inter have had the better start to the season compared with their Milan rivals, currently sitting fourth – eight places ahead of the Rossoneri.
Nainggolan is the new Stankovic
Materazzi’s praise was not just focused on the young strikers of Milan, with the former Inter man also speaking highly of midfielder Radja Nainggolan.
Nainggolan joined Inter from Roma in the summer for a reported £21m plus the transfers of Davide Santon and Nicolo Zaniolo to the capital club, and has been impressive for the Nerazzuri, starting their past eight games.
His performances have been so impressive, Materazzi has compared him to another Inter midfield great, Dejan Stankovic.
He said: “Radja Nainggolan is the new Dejan Stankovic: steals the ball, starts the counter and scores.”
Nainggolan has managed two goals for Inter so far in his eight games, one coming in Serie A and the other in the Champions League.
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