The name Luca Scapuzzi might not mean much to most Manchester City fans, but those who can remember a Round of 16 EFL Cup tie against Wolverhampton back in October 2011 will know exactly who we’re talking about.
The young winger, who joined the Etihad side back in July of that same year on a free transfer from Milan, started that game, one of his two first-team appearances for the club, and picked up three assists in a 5-2 win.
Sitting down with Gazzetta dello Sport on Wednesday, the player looked back over his still ongoing career (he’s currently playing for Serie D side Pro Sesto), and was asked what his most important memory at Manchester City was.
He said: “Certainly the debut at the Etihad Stadium at home in the Cup against Birmingham in 2011, even if that goal at Wolverhampton was fantastic (it went down as a Dorus de Vries own-goal), which was my first and only start”.
Outside of his two appearances for the first-team, the now 28-year-old spent some time with Manchester City’s reserves, where he got to know Patrick Vieira, then manager of the U23s.
Both have since moved on from the Etihad, with the Frenchman now in charge at Nice, yet Scapuzzi reveals they could have spent more time together.
He explained: “We had a good relationship. A few years ago, he wanted to take me to New York City in the MLS, but I preferred to return to Italy. He was a straightforward type of person who would sometimes play with us during training, but he was the strongest of all!”.
After that, it was all downhill for Scapuzzi, who suffered some injury issues, spending two years with Como in Serie C before his move to Pro Sesto, where he has five goals and three assists in 11 league appearances so far this campaign.
He’ll always have that game against Wolves, though.
