Remember De Rossi on Ekhator? All about Carnevali’s first Juventus signing

On 5 October 2024, Jeff Ekhator became the first Italian player born after Italy’s last World Cup triumph to score in Serie A. Just a few months after making his first-team debut, the forward, born on 11 November 2006, found the net in Genoa’s 5-1 defeat by Atalanta.

For the Rossoblù, it was a day to forget. For Juventus’ new striker, it was the beginning of a rise whose ceiling remains difficult to define.

Giovanni Carnevali has decided to bet on that potential, investing €18m in a player who - judging by recent comments from Daniele De Rossi - could be worth tens of millions more in a few years’ time. The current Genoa coach said as much a couple of months ago, towards the end of a season in which the 2006-born forward played regularly. “He is growing before our eyes and is finally training like a champion. Everyone has their own timing when it comes to reaching professional maturity, but it would be a serious mistake for a coach or a club to waste his wild power, his elasticity and his great explosiveness. He moves well, attacks space and manages his speed; he is working a lot on consistency and defensive tactical organisation.”

He has already made his senior Italy debut
Born in Genoa to Nigerian parents, Ekhator is now leaving the club where he has spent his entire career so far. Genoa picked him up directly from the Don Bosco parish football school when he was just eight years old. He raced through the Rossoblù youth ranks and, in the meantime, climbed through Italy’s youth teams before making his senior international debut last June under head coach Silvio Baldini.

That debut came against Greece at the age of 19 years, six months and 27 days. Ekhator is an attacking player capable of covering more or less every role across the front line. Last season he scored a wonderful backheel at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona against SSC Napoli, but he knows he can go well beyond the four goals he managed over the campaign.

Genoa tied him down as soon as he turned 18
So who were his idols? “As a child I always watched Balotelli; I can say he is my idol,” Ekhator said when Mario Balotelli was, with limited success, on Genoa’s books. His mentality, though, is that of a grounded player from a very young age. In an interview at 13, he said he loved pizza but could only eat it when he did not have a match to play.

Genoa tied him down to a contract until 2029 as soon as he turned 18. Less than two years later, they are selling him for a significant fee.

But Ekhator as a first signing says plenty above all about the new Juventus: a club now shaped by Carnevali, whose management will look far more closely at the domestic market than in the past, and place far greater emphasis on young Italian players.