AC Milan have signed 19-year-old defensive midfielder, José Mauri on a free transfer following Parma’s bankruptcy and enforced relegation to the fifth tier of Italian football. Mauri caught the eye of several clubs despite Parma’s nightmare 2014/15 campaign and arrived in Milan earlier to sign a four-year deal with the Rossoneri.

Hailing from the small Argentine town of Realicó in La Pampa, Mauri came through the youth ranks of Buenos Aires based club, Ferro Carril Oeste. However, before making his professional debut he made the move to Italian side Parma when aged just fifteen making his debut two years later in the Coppa Italia.

His Seria A debut followed in January 2014 but it was in the following season (2014/15) that Mauri really asserted himself in the Parma first team.

The diminuitive but tenacious defensive midfielder played 35 times and scored twice including a superb match winning strike against Juventus in April but has also been recruited by the Italian national side and represented their under-17s six times as a result of his Italian passport.

Following an impressive season with troubled Parma, several Serie A sides, including Fiorentina had made contact but it is AC Milan who appear to have won the race. The Italian giants are undergoing something of a rebuild after a disappointing season and announced earlier: “Jose Mauri is on his way to the La Madonnina clinic from the Milan Linate Airport. Once there, the young midfielder will have his medical. In addition to the Milan medical staff, the Milan Channel are also on hand ready to capture the moment.”

Upon arrival in Milan, Mauri told reporters: “I’m emotional. We haven’t done the medical yet, but Milan is a dream for me and I hope they will help me grow. They are one of the biggest clubs in the world — the one which has won the most titles together with Boca Juniors. My Rossoneri idol is Gennaro Gattuso, while my overall idol is Javier Mascherano.

“[AC Milan’s general manager Adriano] Galliani called me while I was in Argentina. It was a very big call for me. I was born ready, which is what I always tell my agent.”

For now at least, Mauri appears to be Italy’s to lose but if the 19-year-old impresses with Milan then a real tug-of-war may yet materialise. With his idol Javier Mascherano not getting any younger, Argentine scouts might just be keeping an eye on how he progresses in Italy.