Raised with the Sesto San Giovanni club, the goalkeeper will return to Milan for the Italian Cup match against Inter
If Razvan Sava landed in Italy he owes it to a friendly match between national youth teams and the flair of Riccardo Guffanti, one of the eyes most sensitive to talent. The game was played in Pordenone, less than one hundred kilometers from Udine, the city that made him debut in Serie A against Monza and which saw him up close last Saturday against Napoli.
He was a clean-shaven 15-year-old, defending Romania’s goal and at that moment he was a three-hour flight from Timisoara, the city where he saved his first shots wearing the Banatul shirt. Two months and he would have packed his bags towards Milan, where tomorrow he will return with the Udinese shirt to stop the best attack in Italy, that of Inter, in the round of 16 of the Coppia Italia. A twist of fate.
The bet
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As soon as the class of 2002 crosses the Milanese borders, one glance will undoubtedly end up at the northern suburbs, the one dominated by Sesto San Giovanni. And he will probably look for Breda, the Pro Sesto stadium where he churned out assists with his hands and spent the night refining his technique well after the gates closed. It was a bet by Jacopo Colombo, then sporting director, won over by a couple of saves against France experienced behind a monitor. As soon as he arrived in Italy he was shy and taciturn, the opposite of what his 190 centimeters indicated. But at the same time bold, confident and determined in chasing his dream. Today he is making it a reality.
His debut with the Allievi B of Pro Sesto is still talked about today and those who experienced it first hand talk about it as if it were yesterday: “We were playing against Cimiano, we were outnumbered and we were defending a corner kick”. Alessandro Giglio, one of his first coaches, responds from Wales and remembers every frame: “A treacherous cross went off and he, leaving the goal, found himself in the sky blocking the ball on the edge of the area. At that point I shouted at him to go hands on, I already knew his qualities. And then…”.
A throw of about sixty metres, strong and tense, calibrated and precise. A parable sewn with needle and thread that became a chocolate only to be unwrapped. A handful of months and Luca Acquaviva would have had him in the Allievi A, just as many and he would have passed under the orders of Gianluca Savoldi in the National Juniores. The last stage is Serie D at 15 years 10 months and 11 days. All in the blink of an eye.
Paratici’s call
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Sesto San Giovanni was his home for a year, then Fabio Paratici picked up the phone and took him to Juventus, burning Inter and Milan, who had looked at him in the previous months but never made the move. An idea that remained as such. If Razvan Sava wore black and white, he owes it to a call around dinner time on Sunday 29 April, just a few hours after he showed up in Serie D by saving the shot against Folgore Caratese and drawing applause from the Vito Porro corner.
A smooth online conversation for a lightning deal, with the verbal agreement becoming a handshake in a matter of weeks. But despite his predestined calling card, in the shadow of the Mole he didn’t work out and Juventus loaned him out: first Pescara, then Lecce. A season in Primavera (2019/2020) and Massimo Bava called him to Turin, this time on the Granata side.
the Romans and Udine
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At Toro he plays and convinces, but he finally takes off only when he returns to Romania. It happens in the summer of 2022 at the behest of Razvan Zamfir, sporting director of Cluj, who at the time could count on a certain Simone Scuffet, born at Udinese where today Sava is replacing the injured Okoye. Another twist of fate. “If you come to us today, maybe tomorrow you could become a starter.” A half-promise from Zamfir – kept – convinces him to leave Italy temporarily. The rest is recent history. The transfer to Udinese, the debut in the Italian Cup against Salernitana and the two appearances in the championship against Monza and Napoli. Then, probably, Inter and then the return to “his” Milan. A stone’s throw from Sesto San Giovanni and the Breda stadium: from there they will cheer for him.
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