Teenager Felix Afena-Gyan appears to have made an impression on Roma coach Jose Mourinho, who has spoken highly of the striker.
The 18-year-old, after giving a positive account of himself on his Serie A debut against Cagliari last week, played for the first time at the Stadio Olympico where Roma lost 2-1 to AC Milan on Sunday.
He has remained in the first team since his debut and would have played against Bodo/Glimt if he was registered for the Europa Conference League.
“With Felix, tomorrow he is a player who is not registered for the Conference League. But he is a player with qualities that we don’t really have in the squad. He’s a player who looks for opportunities that we don’t often try to exploit,” Mourinho said at the pre-match press conference ahead of the game.
“We have a lot of players who want the ball at the feet; we don’t have many who look for the spaces to run into. I like him because of how he tries to run into space and how he works out on the pitch. How he presses. He’s aggressive in the spaces.
“He is a long, long way from being the finished product – a long way from being a complete player and a long way from being the perfect player to start for a team like Roma. But he is a player that deserves to be worked with and deserves a chance to play.
“It’s good for him that he is training with us, just as it is good for other players.”
The Wenchi-born is a registered member of the Roma U19 team and is their best player. This season, he has scored six goals, making him the top scorer in the Italian youth league.
This is his first year in Europe as he moved to Roma in March after being scouted by agent Oliver Arthur during a regional inter-schools football tournament.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana