Luka Romero, the star who dreams of Boca: his numbers in Europe and his unknown past in a reality show

“Europibe” It is a concept that has been used for a couple of years to understand footballers born in Europe, but children of Argentine parents, such as Alessandro Garnacho OR Nicola Paz; or to those who were born in their homeland, but left without having made their debut in the First Division and built their (short) career in Old WorldAS Matías Soulé, Tiago Geralnik and the brothers Franco and Valentín Carboni. These Europibes usually include Luca Romerowhich could become a reinforcement of Mouth in the next few hours. Even though his story doesn’t strictly fit into either of those two categories.

The AC Milan midfielder’s life has been marked by the ball since day zero. Like his twin brother Tobías (savior of the Andratx B team, which participates in the regional preferential tournament of Mallorca), born November 18, 2004 in Victoria de Durango (Mexico)where his father, Diego Adriano, had come to play for Alacranes in that country’s second division. Romero Sr. had trained since the age of eight at Quilmes, where he made his First Division debut in 1995, and had passed through Atlético de Rafaela and NK Mura of Slovenia before arriving on North American soil.

After two experiences in Ecuador (in Olmedo and at the Técnico Universitario), Romero, his wife Vanina Bezzana and their two children crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in Spain in 2007.. There, Diego played for promotion teams such as Villanueva, Estepona, Unión Deportiva Los Barrios, San Pedro de Sestao and Sociedad Deportiva Formentera. While the veteran Diego burned his last cartridges, his children kicked a ball for the first time.

The left-handed Luka has impressed from a young age. So much so that when he was only seven years old he went to Catalonia to do an audition in Barcelona with Horacio Gaggioli, the representative who had brought Lionel Messi to Barça. He far surpassed him, but to stay it was necessary for his family to move with him, since in La Masía they did not accept children under 10 years old. Diego and Vanina rejected that proposal and chose to stay in Formenterain the Balearic Islands.

Between April and May 2015 the boy made his first public appearances, since he participated Championsa reality show broadcast on the IB3 signal of the Balearic Islands and in which former defenders Gustavo Siviero and Ivan Campo each had to recruit a group of child players to play a match. The winning team will travel to Seville to meet the Spanish national team players and watch a match of the match Red against Ukraine to qualify for the 2016 European Championships in France. Romero joined Campo’s team and surprised with his skill and powerful finishing.

At that time, not only Barça was following in his footsteps, but also other Spanish clubs like Real Madrid and Villarreal. He won the battle Majorcathat in May 2015, when Champions it was still on the air, A child of just 10 years old was insured for eight years. Five years later, on 24 June 2020, that boy became the youngest player to play a match in the Spanish championship: with 15 years and 219 dayshe came on in the 38th minute of the second half of the duel that his team lost 2-0 against Real Madrid at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium for the 31st matchday of the tournament (he replaced the Ghanaian Iddrisu Baba).

On November 29 of that year, 11 days after turning 16 and when his team was already playing in the Spanish second division, he scored his first professional goal: he scored the last in the 4-0 win over Logroñés in Son Moix. “I scored the goal and I started crying thinking about my mother, my father, the people who support me. “I didn’t believe it, I thought it was a dream.”said the boy, who had dedicated himself so much Diego Armando Maradona (he had died four days earlier) and his grandmother Mabel.

At that point Romero had already had his first contacts with the Argentine youth teams. Despite having Mexican and Spanish nationality, he never hesitated to opt for this Albiceleste. “My whole family is Argentine and I feel Argentine. When we come to town they make us feel at home”he explained in July 2023.

In July 2018, when he was 13 years old, he made his first visit to the Ezeiza property to participate in a week-long training cycle with boys of his age under the orders of Ermes Desiocoordinator of the youth teams of the Argentine Football Federation. And in December 2019 he played against the South American U-15 in Paraguayin which the team led by Alejandro Saggese and which included, among others, Valentín Barco, Agustín Giay and Santiago Castro lost on penalties in the final against Brazil.

In March 2022, Romero received his first call-up to the senior national team: With qualification for the World Cup in Qatar already assured, Lionel Scaloni called him up (along with Garnacho, Geralnik, Paz and the Carboni brothers) for the last double date of the Qualifiers, even if he didn’t give him minutes in the duels against Venezuela in Buenos Aires and Ecuador to Guayaquil. “He is a great player with an even better future”the coach praised him a few months later.

His last experience in the Albiceleste shirt dates back to 2023 and did not have a happy ending: he played the U-20 World Cup in which Argentina, who was local, fell in the round of 16 against Nigeria. In that competition, Romero played all four matches of the team led by Javier Mascherano and scored two great goals (against Guatemala and New Zealand). Those goals put him on the lips of all football fans and then the comparisons with Messi resurfaced. “Luka is a great player, but we must not forget that he is only 18 years old”Mascherano tried to lower the foam.

In parallel, he was building his career in Europe. With Mallorca he was relegated in his first season in the senior team, but in the second he regained his ticket to the championship. However, he didn’t get many opportunities (he totaled just 215 minutes in nine games) and decided to sign with Lazio in July 2021. “It was hard for me to say goodbye to the club that gave so much to me and my family, but I hope that one day you can understand that I had to choose a new path”he stated in his farewell to the fans of the Balearic team.

Nor did he play much in the Roman team: in two years he played 21 matches, of which only two as a starter (against Juventus in Serie A and against Romanian Cluj in the Conference League), and he scored a goal in the 1-0 win over Monza on November 10, 2022. As in Mallorca, his only cry was in the month of his birthday, this time eight days before he came of age.

On 6 July last year, after participating in the Under 20 World Cup and after the contract with Lazio expired, he signed a four-year contract with Milan. “I still have a lot to learn, but being in this club is already a dream. “I like to play behind the attackers, but I will do it where the coach tells me.”he assured at the time of the presentation.

His first attempts Red-black They were very encouraging: in his second friendly, he scored a great goal in the 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid in Los Angeles. But ultimately coach Stefano Pioli didn’t take it too much into account.. So far this season he has accumulated only 155 minutes in five games and has only played one match as a starter (January 2 against Cagliari in the round of 16 of the Italian Cup).

This lack of activity has led to talk in recent days of possible destinations for the boy born in Durango. One of these was Como, third in the Italian Serie B. But then Boca’s opportunity appeared. “He wants a first team in Spain, but I know that there are already negotiations between Boca and Milan, who would divide the cost of the contract without problems,” he revealed on Tuesday. José Romero, the player’s paternal grandfather.

It is clear that at this moment only a giant of Argentine football can hope to have him, even for just a few months. However, every time he was consulted about it, Romero said he would like to play for Quilmesclub to which he is linked by a rich family history that surpasses his father’s.

Grandfather José was a historic coach of the minor leagues, one of the founders of the structures located in Alsina and Lora (where the team’s youth teams train). Brewer), for 26 years he was president of the Youth Football Subcommittee and then for five years he was responsible for the Futsal Subcommittee. Both his maternal grandfather, Alfredo Bezzana, and two of his uncles, Flavio and Alfredo Bezzana, came to play in the club’s Reserve, while another of his uncles, Leonardo Romero, played in the Futsal Primera. As if that wasn’t enough, in July 2020 the club granted him honorary member recognition and also named him its International Youth Ambassador.