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Andrea Poli is a tall, hard working box-to-box centre midfielder, who could do very big things in the future. In 2007 Andrea joined Sampdoria from Treviso at the age of 17 and joined up with the Primavera side. During his first season with the Primavera he tasted success, he was the heart of the midfield that won the Primavera Campionato, or the Giacinto Facchetti Trophy as it is more commonly known.
He was then asked to join up with the Italy Under-19 side in the summer for the European championships, and continued to impress. He scored twice in the group stages of the competition with fine solo goals, and showed a touch of Frank Lampard class with some late runs into the box to finish off rebound chances.
At the start of the 2008-09 season, Sampdoria loaned Poli out to newly promoted Serie B side Sassuolo, where he has become one of their best players in a surprisingly successful start to the season. Up until the winter break, he has scored twice from his ten games played, a very good ratio for a player of his age in Italy, he is held in high regard by the Sampdoria training staff and want him back for next season, his fantastic vision, determination, heading ability, and leadership qualities will all help him on his way to becoming one of Serie A's finest young players. He has fantastic stamina in chasing down the opposition and turning defence into attack, and can one day become one of Italy's most dynamic midfielders. He is very similar in style to Daniele De Rossi for his commitment, but is similar to Kaka for his strength on the ball, both qualities are highly admired in Italy.
He has some areas he will need to improve to become a top star in Serie A in the future, but he will return to Sampdoria next season and be fighting against some of Italy's best in the middle of the park which will no doubt improve his game greatly. His passing is at times erratic and he tends to drift in and out of games, but when he is on form he controls the middle of the pitch with his darting Kaka-like runs. Andrea Poli may not be one of Italy's biggest names yet, but in a few years time he could be lighting up Serie A with Antonio Cassano's Sampdoria.
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