Matteo Gabbia
Matteo Gabbia (born 21 October 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Milan. Club career. AC Milan. Gabbia joined AC Milan's youth academy in 2012 aged 12. He received his first ever call-up to the senior team by head coach Vincenzo Montella ahead of a home Serie A game against Roma played on 7 May 2017; he, however, remained an unused substitute. He made his first appearance for the club on 24 August 2017 in a Europa League qualifier against Shkëndija as a 73rd-minute substitute for Manuel Locatelli. Loan  to Lucchese. On 31 August 2018, Gabbia was loaned to Serie C club Lucchese on a season-long loan deal. On 16 September he made his Serie C debut in a 1–0 home defeat against Arezzo, he played the entire match. Eleven days later, on 27 September, he scored his first professional goal for Lucchese in the 47th minute of a 2–2 home draw against Carrarese. Gabbia ended his season-long loan to Lucchese with 30 appearances, all as a starter, he was replaced only 2 times, and he scored 1 goal. Return to AC Milan. Gabbia stayed with Milan  for the 2019–20 season as squad player behind Alessio Romagnoli, Mateo Musacchio, and Simon Kjær. On 15 January 2020, he played in the 3–0 victory against SPAL in the Coppa Italia, coming on as a substitute for Simon Kjær in the 82nd minute. He made his league debut on 17 February 2020 in a 1–0 home victory against Torino, again as a substitute for Kjær in the 44th minute. International career. He represented Italy at the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, they did not advance from the group stage. He played in two group-stage games for Italy U19 at  the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, where Italy was the runner-up. Then with the Italy U20 he took part in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He made his debut with the Italy U21 on 6 September 2019, in a friendly match won 4–0 against Moldova. Style of play. Gabbia has been described as a versatile player. Having started his youth career as a defensive and a central midfielder, he later switched to deeper roles, such as a centre-back, in either a three or a four-man defensive line. Besides his ball-winning abilities, Gabbia also retains playmaking  attributes and tends to join the attacking play when opportunities present themselves. Personal life. On 9 October 2020, it was announced that Gabbia tested positive for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in Italy.