Patrick Cutrone on hitting the reset button back home with Como
Patrick Cutrone was Italy’s brightest spark after bursting on to the scene with Milan… but after his doomed Wolves move and the death of his father, the 24-year-old is hitting the reset button back home with Como
- Patrick Cutrone has made the move to Serie B side Como to restart his career
- The striker’s star shone bright as a teenager as he impressed for Milan in Serie A
- The 24-year-old suffered the loss of his father Pasquale to Covid earlier this year
- He has moved back to his hometown in a bid to kickstart his footballing career
Patrick Cutrone rolls up the right sleeve of his T shirt to reveal his most recent tattoo. The 24-year-old has grown fond of inking his body, but this particular image means the most. It’s of his father, Pasquale.
‘My dad was like me. He’s the same person,’ Cutrone tells Sportsmail. ‘He had a lot of friends, he helped a lot of people because he was a lawyer. He wanted to help people. He liked helping people.’
It is hard not to be sentimental when returning home, but for the former Wolves striker his summer move to pioneering Serie B outfit Como – back to his roots, to his family – comes tinged with sadness.
Patrick Cutrone shows Sportsmail the recent tattoo of his late father, Pasquale, on his arm
Pasquale passed away in January after contracting Covid. He was only 58. It is clear from the way Cutrone speaks, as he gazes out over the Hilton hotel balcony to the waters of Lake Como below, that it is a loss he is still coming to terms with.
‘For me he was the best person in the world,’ he continues. ‘I think no one is like him. I will not find a person like him. He was my idol. My everything.
Cutrone (right) with his dad and older brother on holiday as a child. Pasquale died in January
‘It was difficult. My father was everything for me. The person I spoke to every day about football, about my life.
‘When you lose a father and a person like that, you see dark. It was difficult for me. Now I want to restart. I want to show I’m the same player that started well. When you’ve done it once you can do it always.’
After three years in relative obscurity, the reset button has been pushed almost out of necessity. Loan moves to Fiorentina, Valencia and Empoli fostered no form and no real opportunity to grow.
The chance to reconnect with his family has been key, with his mother Eleonora and brother Chris still in the area. His fiancée Greta Vergani is originally from the area, too.
The links back to his father are also unescapable. As was the case at Milan and Fiorentina, his squad number is 63 – a nod to the year Pasquale was born.
Cutrone isn’t exaggerating when he describes himself and his father as one and the same. Replicating his innate desire to help others comes naturally to the 24-year-old.
Cutrone has signed on a permanent deal for Como having ended his time with Wolves
The striker continues to wear the no 63, a tribute to his father based on his date of birth
Take Liam Kerrigan, for example. Como’s new addition from the Ireland Premier Division is also at the hotel. A chat about the former UCD forward’s frantic search for somewhere to live after plumping for Italy’s lakes instead of Lincoln City is followed up with a request from Cutrone; if you need any help at all settling in, just ask.
His approach also comes from a place of experience, and that feeling of being alone in unfamiliar surroundings.
Cutrone’s move to Wolves for £16m back in 2019 was originally heralded as something of a coup for the Premier League side, and his start at Molineux initially supported the theory. The Italian international looked sharp in Europa League qualifying and got off the mark against Chelsea in September.
Cutrone endured a difficult six months while at Wolves, moving on his own to play in England
Off the pitch, however, his situation wasn’t as promising. Having moved across to England without any family or friends, the isolation was taking its toll.
‘It was the first team after Milan, so far from home,’ he says.
‘I was alone. With my girlfriend, it was our first months together and sometimes it isn’t the right time to live together. Sometimes my family my friends [would visit] but the rest of the time I was alone.
‘At first I felt good because I was playing. When you play you are happy. When you start to not play, you feel in your head something wrong. I understood the coach preferred someone else and the model was not good for me.
‘For a striker, when you play with no continuity it’s difficult. For me it’s the most important thing. I’ve had issues with form because I didn’t play so much.’
Cutrone poses with his brother Chris (left), his fiancee Greta (second left) and mother Eleonora (second right) after signing for Como
PATRICK CUTRONE’S CAREER C.V.
CLUB CAREER
2017-19: AC Milan
2019-22: Wolves
2020–2021: Fiorentina (loan)
2021: Valencia (loan)
2021-22: Empoli (loan)
2022- present: Como
INTERNATIONAL
2017-2021: Italy Under 21s
2018: Italy
These are issues he hopes will be consigned to the past at Como. Following his free transfer, the initial signs are promising. Having made his debut at the end of August, Cutrone grabbed his first goals for his new club against SPAL on September 17.
His celebration saw him leap the advertising hoardings and climb the fence to celebrate with the home fans. The bond with his hometown is clear for all to see.
‘I feel very, very good,’ he says. ‘It’s my city. To play for my city, my people is an honour for me. I want to give 100 per cent for this team. I feel in my skin the city, the city where I lived, where I grew up, I feel this sentiment.
‘I know everything about Como. I have my friends here, I have my family, my girlfriend. We know everything. When you want to restart your career, for me, to start where you grew up and where you were born is best.’
A reboot will bring with it hope that he can rescale the heights he initially soared to. As a teenager at Milan, Cutrone was once the country’s premier emerging talent.
His efforts for the Rossoneri culminated in an international call-up, and a first international cap, handed to him by Luigi Di Biagio in a friendly against Argentina. At 24, there is ample opportunity for him to add to it.
For now, though, it is a case of focusing on the here and now.
Cutrone burst on to the scene as a teenager, impressing in the early stages at AC Milan
‘I don’t want to think about the future,’ he insists. ‘I want to do good for Como, for me. Now I think only about Como. It’s my city. I want to have a good season for Como, match after match.
‘I know Como can go up this year, we have a good project for the players, for the city. It’s the most important thing – to have a good project.
‘I think this year, with the right time, we’ll do something good.’
You certainly wouldn’t put it past Como, nor Cutrone. After all, doing good, as his father’s legacy attests to, is in his nature.
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