Patrick Cutrone

Full name: Patrick Cutrone

Date of birth: 03 January 1998

Place of birth: Como, Italy

Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)

Position: Striker

Number: ##

National team: Italy

Nationality: Italy

Foot: Right

Agent: Donato Orgnoni

Joined: 18 January 2017

Contract until: 30.06.2023

Patrick Cutrone left AC Milan on 30 July 2019.

Patrick Cutrone is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club Milan and the Italy national team.

Known for his eye for goal, Cutrone has been described as a “true number 9” by several Italian football pundits. His main playing attributes as a forward are his physical strength, positioning, aerial ability, and heading, as well as his opportunism, movement, and ability to read the game; he also drawn praise in the media for his work-rate off the ball, while his technique and team play have been cited as areas for improvement, however. Due to his characteristics, he has been compared to former A.C. Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi, who used to train him while working as a coach with the A.C. Milan Youth Sector from 2012 to 2014. Although an avid Milan fan since childhood, he idolized Mattia Destro while playing for Milan Primavera and was also called “the young Destro” because of their similarities. Other players he idolizes are Andrea Belotti and Alvaro Morata, the later praised Patrick Cutrone for his performances in 2018.

Apart from his regular central striker position, he has also been used by Milan’s coach Gennaro Gattuso as a makeshift left winger, in a role similar to that of Mario Mandžukić at Juventus.

Patrick Cutrone is also capable of playing alongside another attacking teammate in 4–4–2 formation, balancing between the roles of a centre-forward/striker and a second striker.

Patrick Cutrone was born in Como and began to play football at a young age. In 2005, the 7-year old Cutrone started his youth career at the local team GS Parediense. In the summer of 2007, he had trials at Internazionale, Monza, and Milan. On 29 June 2007 he officially joined Milan’s academy, where he spent the following ten years, playing through the different age groups up to the Primavera (under-19) team. In March 2015, Cutrone signed his first professional contract with Milan, effective from 1 July 2015 until 30 June 2018.

Cutrone received his first ever call-up to the senior team for a home game against Pescara played on 30 October 2016; he was present on the team’s bench and remained an unused substitute. Prior to that, his experience with the first team was limited to pre-season friendlies and occasional training sessions. In January 2017, Patrick Cutrone was promoted to Milan’s first team. On 21 May 2017, he made his senior debut in the 3–0 Serie A home win against Bologna, coming on as a substitute for Gerard Deulofeu at the 85th minute. He also picked up his first ever yellow card in that game for a sliding tackle that led to a foul.

In the summer of 2017, Patrick Cutrone signed a contract extension until 30 June 2021, while Milan’s Chinese-led board of directors spent over €200 million on transfers, acquiring a total of 11 new players, two of which were strikers André Silva and Nikola Kalinic. Initially, in order to increase his playing time, Cutrone had been persuaded to join one of the lower-ranking Serie A clubs yet refused.

On 27 July 2017, he was featured in the starting line-up for the first time in a 1–0 away victory over Romanian side Universitatea Craiova in the 2017–18 Europa League qualification. On 3 August 2017, he scored his first goal for Milan in the return match against Craiova, which finished 2–0 for the Italian team. On 20 August 2017, he scored his first Serie A goal in a 0–3 Serie A away win against Patrick Cutrone. On 24 August 2017, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 away victory over Shkëndija in Europa League play offs, and on 28 September, he scored a last-minute winning goal against Rijeka in the group stage to win the match 3–2 for Milan. Coming on as a substitute in the Coppa Italia match against local rivals, Internazionale, Cutrone scored the winner and his first goal in the Derby della Madonnina.

On 28 January 2018, Cutrone scored an opening goal in the home Serie A game against Lazio. Initially, the goal was thought to be a header by the referee and Lazio players alike. However, after the final whistle, it became clear that following a free kick taken by Hakan Çalhanoğlu, the ball did not touch Cutrone’s head but rather deflected off his arm straight into the goal. Although it was reported that Patrick Cutrone may possibly get a 2-match ban for an alleged deliberate handball, an investigation conducted by FIGC proved that his actions in that episode were unintentional and, therefore, non-punishable.

On 10 February 2018, Cutrone scored a brace in a 4–0 away victory over SPAL, solidifying his position as a first-choice striker for Milan during the 2017–18 season.

In the summer of 2018, Milan’s new board of directors decided to increase the team’s attacking capability with the signing of a high-profile goalscorer, Gonzalo Higuain, whom Cutrone first met in 2015 as a fan. Following his arrival, out of all the remaining strikers in the team (namely Nikola Kalinic, André Silva, and Carlos Bacca), Cutrone was the only one to have not been placed on the transfer market. On 31 August 2018, Cutrone came on as a late substitute and scored a last-minute match-winning goal in a 2018–19 Serie A home game against Roma (2–1), helping Milan secure the very first competitive victory in the season.

In October 2018, Cutrone extended his contract with Milan until 30 June 2023.

On 12 January 2019, Patrick Cutrone came on as an extra-time substitute and scored two first-touch goals within just six minutes in an eventual Coppa Italia 2–0 away win against Sampdoria.

AC Milan’s management decided to sell both Patrick Cutrone and Andre Silva in the summer of 2019. This decision was mostly because they wanted to raise cash for the summer transfer window.

Patrick was sold to the Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers for a price around 18 million euros. Cutrone signed 4-years long contract with Wolves, and chose the jersey with #10.

Patrick Cutrone represented Italy at Italy under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19 level, making a combine total of 57 appearances and scoring 27 goals. In particular, he was part of the squad for both the 2015 European U-17 Championship and the 2016 European U-19 Championship.

He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 1 September 2017, in a friendly match lost 3–0 against Spain. Three days later, he played his second match against Slovenia U21 in which he scored his first goal for the side in a 4–1 victory.

In March 2018, he was awarded his first senior call-up to the Italian national team, under interim manager Luigi Di Biagio, for Italy’s friendlies against Argentina and England later that month. On 23 March, he made his senior international debut in the friendly against Argentina; Italy were defeated 2–0.