To fully understand the impact of young striker Niato on certain parts of the Zurich fan base, Marco Chopby's social media is a good place to start. It's just a tiny channel with fewer subscribers and just one video — The Song of Neoto. Written and sung by Albis-Ryder, dancing to Nioto's cartoon image, the song is an ode to the young star who helped Zurich move towards Swiss champions. "This is The Italian 'Super Clown' Nioto." The song went viral on the Internet. However, Neoto is neither a cartoon character nor a player who can describe his ability to play football in three or two sentences.
Yes, he's a very good dribbler, and when he got to Inter, his dribbling ability made him stand out from his youth, and his goal-scoring ability has been outstanding this season, but it's obviously unfair to stereotypically say he's a dribbler and those goals are just his luck. Niato's game-wise and ability to move in the attacking three zones allowed him to shine in so many offensive positions, and his versatility to be able to eat through all positions of the forward line proved to be a very valuable trait after his promotion to adult football. In some ways, he's been likened to Ribery, though the 18-year-old has his own idol that he hopes to learn from. "My inspiration came from Sterling, but I play football thanks to Messi," he added in a further interview on the Zurich FC website: "For me, Messi is the best in history. ”
Niotto has become a favourite among Swiss fans, but his football story begins in the northwestern Italian city of Verbania, a city overlooking Lake Maggiore. Neoto's parents are Ivorians and have been playing football for as long as he can remember. "My father was a worker and my mother was a waiter, and they never left me missing anything," he explains, "and we lived near a small stadium." Maybe it was fate, I didn't know, but when I looked out the window, I could only see the ball. I used to go downstairs to play football until late at night. Grow up, it's school, football, school and more football! That school, located in Suno, about 80 kilometres from Milan, was where Inter first discovered his talent when Niato was nine years old.
"After two seasons at the Sunot football school affiliated with Inter Milan, I did some tests at the club," he said, "I go to Appiano once a week and then I go home. In the end, they signed me. "It was soon clear that Nioto had what he needed to become a professional, performing well at all ages, forming a strong attacking partnership with fellow Italian youth international Sebastiano Esposito. Luckily, Esposito is now also in Switzerland, where he enjoys his loan spell at Basel, but he only left 12 months after Niato decided to leave Meazza.
"I want to play," he said of the decision to refuse a professional contract with Inter Milan, but instead joining Zurich in the summer of 2020 with a contract worth 200,000 euros, "I always wanted to play for Inter milan before I came here. For me, only inter jerseys. But the management here immediately made me understand that I would have the right room to grow. At my age, you can't sit on the bench. Niato did start his life at his new club, starting with the U21 youth team, but after scoring every game in his starting two games, he was quickly promoted to the first team, providing an assist in his debut against Vaduz – albeit after a long-range shot was refracted on a team-mate. It was the first of four assists he contributed on a bench appearance, and on the final day of the season, he scored for the first time in his career, against Vaduz.
It may be a bit of an exaggeration to say that this opens the door, but it's safe to say that Nioto's goal record has improved unimaginably in his second season at the club. He has scored 10 goals in all competitions, including 10 games between November and March, where he scored seven goals, including victories against defending champions Berners and goals against second-placed Basel. The teenager's form, which allowed him to score or assist on average every 91 minutes in the 2021-22 season, helped his side widen the 12-point gap in the table and are on track to win their first league title since 2009. Niato was given a steady playing time, missing only one game due to a suspension, although he was still largely used as a substitute.
Niato brought that form into international competitions, scoring five goals in six qualifiers for Italy to ensure they qualified for Euro 2022 U19, which will take place in Slovakia in July. It will be part of an interesting summer for Niato, whose contract in Zurich expires in 2023, which has led many Serie A clubs to keep a close eye on his situation. "My motto is 'Always have fun'. Whatever I do, I try to have fun," Nioto told Zurich's official website in a recent interview, and he now seems to enjoy his football. If there's anything to be said for the catchy songs on the internet, the club's fans are thrilled by the appearance of the "Italian Super Clown".