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English footballer (born 2003) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Iling-Junior (born 4 October 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or wing-back for Serie A club Bologna, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa.
.jpg) Iling-Junior with Juventus U19 in 2021 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel Iling-Junior[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 4 October 2003 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Islington, England | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Winger, wing-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team |
Bologna (on loan from Aston Villa) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2020 | Chelsea | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Juventus | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2023 | Juventus Next Gen[lower-alpha 1] | 9 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | Juventus | 36 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Aston Villa | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | → Bologna (loan) | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | England U15 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | England U16 | 8 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | England U17 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | England U19 | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | England U20 | 6 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | England U21 | 9 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:07, 6 October 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:08, 6 November 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
A youth product of Chelsea and Juventus, Iling-Junior made his debut for reserve team Juventus U23 in the 2021–22 season, while also reaching the UEFA Youth League semi-finals with the U19 squad. In the following campaign, Iling-Junior started with Juventus Next Gen,[lower-greek 1] scoring four goals in seven matches, and then was promoted to the first team in December 2022, after making his debut both in Serie A and Champions League.
Iling-Junior has represented England at various youth international levels, having won a UEFA European Under-19 Championship in 2022.
Born in Islington,[4] London, Iling-Junior joined Chelsea academy in 2011 at the age of eight,[5][6] and spent nine years with the club.[7] He was promoted to the under-19s aged 16.[8] In 2020, he decided to leave Chelsea, rejecting an athletic scholarship deal,[9] attracting the interest from clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus; he signed a three-year contract with the latter in September of that year.[7][8]
On 7 October 2020, Iling-Junior was included in The Guardian's list of the 60 best young talents in the world born in 2003.[10] On 2 April 2021, he was first called up by Juventus U23 alongside his U19 teammate Gabriele Mulazzi for a Serie C match against Alessandria.[11] He finished the 2020–21 season with four goals and seven assists in 28 matches for the under-19 team.[8]
On 22 August, he made his debut for Juventus U23 in a 3–2 win against Pro Sesto in the Coppa Italia Serie C.[12] His Serie C debut came on 3 October, replacing Nikola Sekulov in the second half against Mantova.[13] Iling-Junior was first called up to the first team on 21 May 2022, for a match against Fiorentina.[14]
In the 2021–22 season, he improved his stats, having played 36 matches and scored 13 goals.[8] Iling-Junior also helped the U19s reach the UEFA Youth League semifinals, their best-ever placing in the competition.[15]
Iling-Junior scored his first professional goal on 3 September 2022, in the 13th minute in Trento–Juventus Next Gen,[lower-greek 1] their first season match.[16] He made his Serie A debut for the first team in a match against Empoli, on 21 October, coming on as a substitute for Filip Kostić in the 84th minute.[8]
On 25 October, Iling-Junior made his Champions League debut against Benfica, replacing Kostić in the 70th minute with Juventus trailing 4–1.[17] He assisted Arkadiusz Milik's 4–2 goal after six minutes, and provided a key pass for Weston McKennie's goal two minutes later.[17] Four days later, in an away match against Lecce, Iling-Junior assisted Nicolò Fagioli's winner after only 41 seconds from entering the pitch;[18] however, he suffered a right-ankle sprain after being fouled by Federico Di Francesco, ruling him out for 20 days.[19]
On 19 December, Juventus announced that Iling-Junior renewed his contract until 2025, being subsequently promoted to the first team.[20] He was promoted after scoring four goals in nine matches for Next Gen (two of which were during the previous season).[12] He made his first-minute debut with the first team on the 19th of the following month, in Juventus–Monza, in the Coppa Italia.[21]
On 2 March 2023, Iling-Junior started the first leg of the final of the Coppa Italia Serie C with Juventus Next Gen and scored a 47th-minute equaliser against Vicenza, against whom they lost 2–1.[22][23] On 11 April, he also played the second leg, in which he kicked a penalty he had won over the post at the 90th minute; they lost 3–2 (5–3 on aggregate).[24][25] On 7 May, he made his first start in Serie A and scored his first goal with Juventus' first team, netting the opener in a 2–0 away win over Atalanta.[26][27]
On 7 January 2024, Iling-Junior scored his first and only goal of the 2023–24 season in a 2–1 away league win over Salernitana.[28]
On 1 July 2024, Iling-Junior signed for Premier League club Aston Villa on a permanent deal, as part of a double-transfer from Juventus, alongside Enzo Barrenechea.[29][30][31] The deal commanded a €14 million fee, plus €3 million in add-ons,[29][31] and was related to the transfer of Douglas Luiz to Juventus, despite being a separate transaction.[29][32]
On 27 August 2024, Illing-Junior joined Serie A club Bologna on a season-long loan.[33][34]
Born in England, Iling-Junior is of DR Congolese descent.[35] He was a member of the England U17s' 2019 Syrenka Cup-winning squad.[36]
On 6 October 2021, he made his debut for the England U19s as a substitute during a 3–1 defeat to France in Marbella, Spain.[37] On 17 June 2022, Iling-Junior was included in the England U19 squad for the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship,[38] which England won with a 3–1 extra-time victory over Israel on 1 July.[39][40][41]
On 21 September 2022, he made his England U20 debut in a 3–0 win over Chile at the Pinatar Arena in Spain.[42] On 24 March 2023, he scored a brace in England U20's 2–0 win over Germany U20.[43]
On 11 September 2023, Iling-Junior made his England U21 debut in a 3–0 win away to Luxembourg in a 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying match.[44]
Iling-Junior mainly plays a winger, either on the left or right. His versatility allowed him to be deployed various areas of the pitch by Juventus U19 coach Andrea Bonatti, namely as a left-back, left or right forward, attacking midfielder or central midfielder.[8] His main qualities are his goalscoring, dribbling and running abilities.[8][45]
Iling-Junior moved to Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he found challenging.[6] He has since become nearly fluent in Italian.[6]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Juventus U23[lower-greek 1] | 2021–22 | Serie C | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1[lower-alpha 2][12] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Juventus Next Gen[lower-greek 1] | 2022–23 | Serie C | 8 | 3 | — | — | — | 3[lower-alpha 2][12] | 2 | 11 | 5 | |||
| Total | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 5 | ||
| Juventus | 2022–23 | Serie A | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 5[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 18 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24 | Serie A | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 36 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 2 | ||
| Aston Villa | 2024–25 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Bologna (loan) | 2024–25 | Serie A | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 48 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 64 | 8 | ||
Juventus Next Gen
Juventus
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