Mattia De Sciglio: Can He Become AC Milan's Next Legend?

In a country known for defense, AC Milan stands out above the rest as having some of the best defenders Italy—and the world—has ever known.

The first three men on Milan's all-time appearances list are defenders: Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta.  Joining them amongst the club's most revered players are titans of the Italian game like Alessandro Nesta and Mauro Tassotti.

Players who put on a red and black shirt dream of entering the club's pantheon alongside these legends.  Few ever will, but there is one young man who some—including this writer—think will be there when his career is over.

That man is Mattia De Sciglio.

The young full-back has only just turned 21, but over the last two years, we have seen all the signs of a brilliant career in the making.

De Sciglio spent ten years in Milan's youth system and was a member of the 2010 Primavera squad that won the Coppa Italia Primavera for the first time in 25 years.  

Massimiliano Allegri handed him the No. 52 shirt for the 2011-12 season and gave him his senior debut as a substitute in a Champions League match against Viktoria Plzen.  Three months later, he started his first professional match against Plzen in a 2-2 away draw.

He also played three games in the league that year.  So impressed were the Milan brass with what they saw that when squad numbers were handed out the next year, the youngster emerged wearing the No. 2 shirt that had been worn by the likes of Tassotti and Cafu.

In the 2012-13 season, De Sciglio started 30 games in all competitions and got into three more from the bench.  He covered the right side—his natural position—when Ignazio Abate was out with an injury and effortlessly slid to the left flank when Abate returned to the starting XI.

His play with Milan got him noticed by national team manger Cesare Prandelli.  After a combined 18 caps at the junior levels, he got his first cap for his country as a starter in March's friendly against Brazil.  He has since played in World Cup qualifying and was brought to Brazil for the Confederations Cup, where he started four of five matches.

Through all of this, he has shown both his prodigious talent and, just as important, supreme confidence.

Nowhere was that confidence more apparent than the third-place game of the Confederations Cup.

With the game knotted at two goals apiece and going into a shootout, De Sciglio stepped forward to take his team's third penalty.  His effort was kept out by Fernando Muslera, but De Sciglio never gave off any sense of uncertainty.  Unlike his teammate Leonardo Bonucci earlier in the week when he missed Italy's decisive spot-kick against Spain in the semifinal, De Sciglio stepped to the spot looking like he would score.

He was unable to place his kick high or wide enough to evade the Uruguayan keeper, but it was a miss of execution—he didn't beat himself.  Fortunately for him, the miss was mitigated by consecutive saves from Italy captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon that sealed the win for the Azzurri.

The youngster turned in an impressive performance in the tournament as a whole.  

He bossed his side of the field in the group stage opener against Mexico and was superb in the third-place game against Uruguay.  According to WhoScored.com, he wedded two tackles, one interception, five clearances and three aerial duels won in defense with a 93 percent pass completion rate and three key passes in attack.

Unfortunately, the 2013-14 season may turn out to be a lost year for the Rossoneri's phenom.  

Injuries have limited him to one match this season.  It's likely that the rigors of a first full season in top-level competition ground him down physically in the same way they torpedoed teammate Stephan El Shaarawy's excellent start to last season.  But even in Lazio" target="_blank">that one game against Lazio, he made four tackles and two clearances.

De Sciglio's skill set is as diverse as it is impressive.  He is an excellent passer and crosser out of the back.  He notched two assists in league play and two more in World Cup qualifying with the Azzurri.  His crossing, in particular, is superlative.  When he strikes a cross true, it's as if he's picked out the exact spot on his teammate's forehead that he wants to hit.

But his game doesn't end there.  

The 21-year-old is also an excellent tackler, and when he gets himself onto the ball, he is extraordinarily difficult to get off of it.  Add excellent aerial ability and extraordinary discipline—he's only been booked four times in a total of 31 league games and has never seen yellow in seven Champions League appearances—and you get a total package of a full-back.  The fact that he is equally comfortable playing on either flank is icing on the proverbial cake.

De Sciglio is in the very earliest stages of his career, but even at 21, he has the looks of something special.  He has all the makings of a player who can put himself onto the pedestal occupied by the likes of Nesta, Costacurta, Baresi and Maldini.  It's a good bet that when everything is said and done, that's exactly where he'll be.

Statistics quoted in this article are from ESPNFC.com and WhoScored.com