With the amount of big-name, high-end U23 talent signed by Roma in recent seasons to fill out the first team, it’s easy to forget about some of Roma’s talent in the academy setup. The most notable of those Primavera players is 17-year-old striker Antonio Arena, who enters his second season with the Giallorossi. Arena burst onto the scene in last season’s Coppa Italia against Torino with a debut goal on his first senior side touch—something Roma hopes will be a sign of things to come in the not-too-distant
future.
Number 9: Antonio Arena
Age: 17
Position: ST
Shades of: Gianluca Scamacca, Lorenzo Lucca, Olivier Giroud
Who Is He?
From last year’s countdown when he was ranked #10:
Born in Sydney, Australia, to Italian parents, Arena’s path to Rome is as global as it is ahead of schedule. He began playing with Western Sydney Wanderers before making the leap to Italy as a 13-year-old, when he joined Pescara’s academy. That’s when things started moving fast.
Arena didn’t just debut at the professional level amazingly early—he scored, too. On his Serie C debut, at 16 years and 25 days old, he found the net in a 4-1 win against Lucchesi, beating out one Marco Verratti for the title of youngest Pescara goalscorer ever. That goal might have been an easy enough scoring opportunity (you can see the highlight below), but being able to score in a professional match as a barely-16-year-old, even at the Serie C level, naturally turned heads. Arena’s success for Pescara and the Italian youth setup has earned him headlines across the country and attracted the attention of scouts far beyond Abruzzo. In classic Italian fashion, his nickname came quickly: Il Baby Bomber.
Roma secured Arena’s signature amid competition from Napoli last month [summer 2025], and wasted no time in slotting him into Gian Piero Gasperini’s training camp and Federico Guidi’s Primavera setup with a long-term view. The hope is that Trigoria becomes his new home, even if his birthplace is a little different from your typical Roman prodigy.
What Can He Do?
At just 17 years old, Arena is obviously still very raw, but he’s one of Italy’s most intriguing young strikers because of his blend of physical tools and technical ability. Already standing 6’2” (1.88m), Arena has a big frame with room to add strength as he matures. That size allows him to play with his back to goal and hold off defenders better than many strikers his age. Combine that strength with a sweet left foot, and it’s easy to see what enticed Roma to move for him last summer.
Arena is much more than a big, brute up top who wants balls hoofed into him, though. He shows good awareness on the pitch—both in his penalty-box movement and in his link-up play, laying off balls to midfielders and bringing wide players into the play. Arena also uses his size well in the air and is a threat on set pieces and crosses. Lastly, he is a willing presser who competes without the ball, something asked of strikers in modern pressing systems like Gasperini’s.
What Can He Become?
Arena can become a complete modern number 9 capable of scoring double-digit goals in a top-5 league like Serie A. He’s the type of striker who can lead the press, link the midfield to attack, use his physical presence to occupy multiple defenders, and serve as a focal point in possession—the type of striker Gasperini has developed well throughout his career.
Although he’s not as technically gifted as Scamacca at this age, this combination is what draws comparisons to the former Roma academy player and Gasperini pupil. But his ability to move smartly, be clinical in the box, and make teammates better through combination play gives the impression that he can be a Giroud archetype in style, even if he never reaches that level. Time will tell, but Roma looks to have a player who can cut it in Rome with the right coaching and development.
