A raid in Belgium, a 2007 boy, and echoes of another Yildiz: why the “new Yildiz” is more than just a name in the notebook
Un altro Yildiz per la Juve: occhi su un 2007 che piace a City e Bayern (Foto: Ansa) – serieanews.com
Sometimes talent doesn’t ask permission. It doesn’t knock. It opens the door, walks in, takes a seat, and begins to shine without even waiting for a turn. It is the kind of talent that puts scouts, managers, and reporters on edge: too young to be “ready” already, too strong to be ignored.
And so it happens that, on an ordinary night in the Belgian league, men from Juventus materialize in the stands of Club Bruges-Genk. Not for a closed deal, but to take a closer look at a boy from 2007. One of those who – as they say – “have something extra.”
The name, for now, does not sound familiar. But only briefly.
In today’s world, if at 17 you have already made your professional debut and even participated in a few goals it means you are ahead of your time. Not only in the anagraphic sense. Konstantinos Karetsas plays for Genk, but he is not Belgian. Or rather, yes, he is by birth. But in his heart beats Greece, that of his grandparents, his roots and now the senior national team.
A left-hander, a trequartista, but with the face and movements of a real number 10, the kind who gets looked for between the lines and then decides where and when to play the ball. He is 1.71 meters tall, not yet 18 years old but neither does he need too many turns of phrase to make himself understood: he plays simple, he plays well. And that alone, today, is a rarity.
Karetsas piace alla Juventus, ma ci sono anche le big straniere
Juventus, according to HLN.be, has made a move. It has sent some of its men to see him live, and it is not the first time. Genk considers him an asset, has armored him with a contract until 2027, but market whispers are starting to become rumors. The persistent kind.
Karetsas piace alla Juventus, ma ci sono anche le big straniere (AnsaFoto) – serieanews.com
Bayern Munich, which would also want Yildiz himself back, is keeping a close eye on him, and it seems that Manchester City has already made some calls as well. Normal, one would say, when within a few months a youngster becomes the youngest scorer in the history of the Greek national team and also breaks several precocious records in Belgium.
Here, the national team: a crazy regret for the Red Devils. In March 2025, Karetsas said “no thanks” to trailing with Belgium’s youth teams and chose Greece. He made his Nations League debut against Scotland, then scored three days later. Easy to say “predestined,” but sometimes labels tell at least part of the truth.
There is the same hype in the Juve household as when Kenan Yildiz arrived, fished with intelligence and patience. He is not a copy, of course. They are two different players, with different paths and characteristics. But both represent that calculated gamble that people in Turin want to win: fishing before others and building the future without having to buy it by the pound.
Soccer, after all, is also this: having the right eye at the right time. But above all, having the courage to trust a 17-year-old who looks at the goal and doesn’t ask questions. And Kostas Karetsas is not an agenda name. He is an idea to cultivate.
This article Another Yildiz for Juve: eyes on a 2007 who City and Bayern like appeared in its original version first on SerieANews.
