Marco Benetti’s Apartnt - Milan
Marco sat at his kitchen table with a cappuccino, scrolling through his phone while preparing to post the official announcent on his agency’s Instagram page. He’d already drafted the post—a photo carousel of both Demien and Luca holding their new Atalanta shirts, congratulatory text about their professional debuts, the standard agent celebration.
His finger hovered over the "Post" button when his phone suddenly buzzed with a notification.
His friend Giuseppe had forwarded him sothing—an Instagram post from Fabrizio Romano, the journalist whose "Here We Go!" catchphrase had beco synonymous with transfer confirmations.
Marco tapped the notification, and the post expanded on his screen:
@FabrizioRomano: 🚨 DONE DEAL! Atalanta have completed the signing of midfielder Demien Walter (18) from Fiorentina academy. The young Italian-English talent was released by Fiorentina but impressed during a trial at Atalanta — with first team coach Gasperini personally requesting he be signed directly to the senior squad. 🔵⚫️ Also confird: Luca Bianchi (18) joins Atalanta’s system. More details on Ademola Lookman deal still in final negotiations. #Atalanta #SerieA #Transfers
The post already had hundreds of likes and the comnts were rolling in fast.
Marco’s eyebrows rose. Fabrizio Romano posting about trialists? That was unusual. The journalist typically only covered established nas and big money transfers.
He opened the comnts section, curious to see the reaction.
calcio_fan92 who even is this guy??? 😂😂 why is fab posting unknown players lmao
atalantaultra another nobody signing 🙄 wake up when we actually sign soone good
seriea_scout If Gasperini personally wants him there’s gotta be sothing special there... trust the process 👀
footballtactics.it Wait wait... Fiorentina released him and now Gasperini PERSONALLY requested him?? 😳 Soone at Viola ssed up big ti
italian.football Atalanta really out here signing rejected academy kids now?? 🤷♂️ what’s happening
bergamo_blue People need to TRUST Gasperini!! When has he ever got a signing wrong??? NEVER 💪🔵⚫️
transfernews24 Lookman deal still not done but they announcing trialists?? 😑 priorities man...
Marco smiled as he read through the skepticism and doubt. He’d been in football long enough to recognize this pattern—unknowns always received this treatnt until they proved themselves on the pitch.
Soon, he thought. Soon the whole world will know Demien’s na.
He returned to his own draft post, hit publish, then sat back with his coffee to watch the social dia reaction unfold.
His agency’s Instagram post went up with professional photos of both signings. Within minutes, his notifications started lighting up with congratulatory ssages from other agents, scouts, and football contacts.
Then he checked Atalanta’s official page.
They’d posted only thirty minutes ago—a single photo of Demien in the Atalanta shirt, holding it up with that genuine smile from the photo session, and a simple caption:
@Atalanta_BC: Welco to the Nerazzurri family, Demien Walter! 🔵⚫️ The 18-year-old midfielder has signed his first professional contract and will join our first team squad for the 2022/23 season. Benvenuto! 🙌 #Atalanta #WelcoDemien #NewSigning
The comnts there were more mixed:
atalantafan1907 who is this?? 😭 are we seriously signing nobody players when we need depth
nerazzurri_forever Trust in Gasperini!! Trust in Percassi!! They’ve never let us down 💙🖤
italian_footie 18 years old... rejected by Fiorentina... I hope he proves wrong but this seems weird ngl 😬
udine_fan Atalanta’s scouting departnt is literally the best in Italy fr if they signed him there’s a reason
bergamo_born another young talent to develop and sell for millions 😤 the Atalanta way smh
footballscout_it People forget Atalanta signed Ilicic Goz Zapata Muriel when nobody believed 👀 they know what they doing
But then sothing shifted.
Marco noticed a new post starting to gain traction—soone had compiled video footage from Demien’s trial matches. The Como U23 ga. The Fiorentina U23 ga. Key monts edited together into a two-minute highlight reel.
@ItalianFootballHighlights: Demien Walter - Welco to Atalanta | Trial Highlights 🔥 Skills, passes, and that assist against Fiorentina... judge for yourself ⚽️🎯 [Video]
Marco clicked play.
The video was well-edited, set to dramatic music. It showed Demien’s defensive work against Como, his composure on the ball, the pinpoint passes. Then the Fiorentina match—the buildup play, the vision, and that subli assist to Luca.
The comnts on this post were markedly different:
tactical_analyst Okay NOW I see why Gasperini wanted him 😳 that composure under pressure is rare af for 18
atalantafan88 Just watched the full trial footage... this kid can PLAY 🔥🔥 people need to stop judging before seeing him
seriea.watch The vision on so of those passes tho... if he develops physically he could be sothing special 🌟
italian_football_daily Fiorentina really let him go?? 😂 their loss is Atalanta’s gain fr
bergamoultra I WAS SKEPTICAL BUT AFTER WATCHING THIS... WELCO TO BERGAMO 🔵⚫️🔥🔥🔥
footballtactics.it That composure!! That vision!! Those one touch passes... Gasperini is gonna LOVE coaching him 💯
calciorcato Dark horse signing of the sumr?? People are sleeping on this one 😴➡️😮
Marco watched as the tide of opinion began to shift. Still plenty of skeptics, but now defenders erging, people who’d actually watched the footage and seen sothing worth believing in.
He checked Atalanta’s official post again.
The club had only posted Demien’s photo, not Luca’s. Strategic choice—build the narrative around the rejected prospect who earned his way into a Serie A first team. Classic underdog story that Italian football loved.
Marco refreshed his own agency page.
The follower count hadn’t changed much, but Demien’s personal Instagram—which had been sitting at a modest few hundred followers—was starting to climb. Slowly at first, then faster.
500 followers.
600 followers.
750 followers.
Marco switched to Demien’s account and saw the numbers continuing to tick upward in real-ti.
1,000 followers.
1,200 followers.
People were finding him through the transfer announcents, through the highlight videos, through simple curiosity about the na "Demien Walter" that was suddenly appearing across Italian football social dia.
Marco smiled and took a sip of his coffee.
The world is starting to notice, he thought. This is just the beginning.
Demien’s Apartnt - Evening
Demien lay on his bed, phone in hand, watching in real-ti as his life changed.
The Instagram notifications wouldn’t stop.
lucabianchi22 started following youenzyx11 started following youatalantafan1995 started following youmud104 started following youhikenace started following youmr_raiden started following youcalcio_enthusiast started following yousingularity21 started following youtenma_hayate started following youshaan_uthappa started following youbergamo_blues started following younr_bappy started following youmiguel_jeann started following youeunice_owusu_7455 started following youshojomojo_ started following you
They ca in waves, dozens per minute, the numbers climbing faster than he could process.
His follower count had jumped from 300 this morning to over 2,500 now, and it showed no signs of slowing.
He opened his DMs and found them flooded with ssages—congratulations from people he’d never t, questions about his position, welco ssages from Atalanta fan accounts, even a few scouts from other clubs who’d apparently been following his trial.
The most shocking thing was the comnt section under his last post—a simple photo from two weeks ago with his mother.
@atalantaofficial had comnted: Welco to the family! 🔵⚫️
That official comnt alone had triggered another surge of attention.
He switched to Twitter and found his ntions exploding there too. His na appeared in thread after thread:
"Who is Demien Walter and why did Gasperini personally request him?"
"Fiorentina’s biggest mistake: letting Demien Walter go"
"Trial to First Team: The Demien Walter story"
So tweets showed clips from his trial matches. Others debated his potential. Many were skeptical. But a growing number were intrigued.
He found the highlight video that was going viral—the one showing his best monts against Como and Fiorentina. It already had over 100,000 views.
Demien set his phone down and stared at the ceiling, overwheld.
This morning, he’d been a nobody. Just another rejected academy player trying to find his way. Now his na was being discussed by thousands of people, his highlights were being analyzed by tactical accounts, major football journalists were announcing his signing.
His phone buzzed again. And again. And again.
The follower count kept climbing.
2,800.
3,200.
3,600.
Demien picked up his phone again, scrolled through the endless stream of new followers, the comnts mixing praise with skepticism, the notifications that wouldn’t stop coming.
He opened his cara roll and found the photo his mother had taken—him at the table, pen in hand, signing the contract with the Atalanta crest visible on the docunt. His expression in the photo was focused, serious, the weight of the mont captured perfectly.
He uploaded it to Instagram.
Caption:First professional contract signed. Thank you to everyone who believed in , especially my mom. Ready for the next Chapter. 🔵⚫️ @atalanta_bc #ForzeAtalanta
He hit post.
Within seconds, the likes started rolling in. Ten. Twenty. Fifty. A hundred.
The comnts ca just as fast:
lucabianchi22 My brother!! Let’s gooo 🔥🔥
atalanta_bc Welco to the family, Demien! 🔵⚫️
bergamo_blues you’re gonna do great things kid 💪
enzyx11 congratulations bro!! 🎉
tactical_analyst the beginning of sothing special 👀
italian_football_daily Fiorentina in shambles rn 😂
Demien set his phone down, his heart pounding. The post already had over 300 likes and the number kept climbing.
For the first ti, he truly understood what it ant to be a professional footballer in the age of social dia.
The world was watching now.
And there was no going back.
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