Can Stephan El Sharaawy Rediscover His Form In Roma?

While it is still too early to classify Stephan Kareem El Shaarawy as an unfulfilled talent, it is not wrong to say he might have lost his way a little. "I remember El Shaarawy in a very positive way. He has technique, quality ,
pace and can score goals. He lost his way a little, I had the chance to speak to him and he gave me positive signals". "If he comes here to play the final six months of the season and get back his image. He can get his place in the Italy squad. Anyone can have moments where he delivers less than he is capable of in a profession and I think this happened to him too", these were the words of Luciano Spaletti the new AS Roma Boss. This is the story of a young prodigy who is Nicknamed "IL Faraone" The little Pharoah as his father is an Egyptian. The youngster has indeed fallen from grace to grass.  El Shaarawy was so good that in 2012 he was named as one of the top players born after 1991 by Don Balon, and also listed in number 52 in The Guardian's list of the best footballers in the world .

Born on 27 October 1992, El Shaarawy began his career in Genoa where he made his  Seria A debut as a 16 year old in 2008 and also had a successful loan spell in Padova in 2010 , where he scored 9 goals in 29 games, which earned him a move to Milan in 2011. He is also  the fourth youngest player in the history of Seria A to have made their first team debuts . He was so good that he was credited with leading Padova ( Venetian Club) to the Seria A promotion playoff finals where they lost to Novara .

After signing for Milan for €20 million in 2011. He scored his first Champions League goal against Zenit, thus becoming Milan's youngest ever scorer in the competition. He was also Seria A's top scorer with 14 goals in the first half of the 2012/2013 season. Things went sour for him when he started having injuries in 2013 as he only made seven appearances for the whole 2013/2014 season , at that point it was a journey of no return for him as he never came back to form. It got so bad that he scored his first goal in 622 days and fell to the floor in tears .

With the arrival of Colombian Carlos Bacca from Sevilla and Brazilian Luiz Adriano from Sharkar Donesk, AC Milan sent him on a season long loan to Monaco in August 2015. At the point of his departure he had scored 21 goals in 82 appearances for Milan but things only got worse in Monaco. He scored no league goal in 24 games and scored only one goal in all competitions for Monaco which was in a 4-0 Champions League third qualifying round win over BSC Young Boys. It got so  bad he was frozen out of the first team in Monaco in January 2016, as he was deemed surplus to requirements. AC Milan also did not want him back as they weren't convinced he could improve their squad.

El Shaarawy finally got a loan deal to AS Roma for a Six months loan and option to full purchase for €14 million. One cannot really tell where it went wrong for the young talent who exploded in Seria A and wooed many European powerful clubs in the process, but we can only hope he comes good at Roma. With the Edin Dzeko leading the attack in a team that plays a lone striker, it might not be a bed of roses for the youngster. At 23 years, El Shaarawy still has time to find his feet and recapture his lost form which if it happens it will be a real coup for Roma.