Man Utd ace dubbed 'the new Totti' was punched by Red Devils icon and lived with Pogba

A former starlet was involved in a furious bust-up with a Red Devils icon before failing to make the grade at Old Trafford. The player arrived to considerable fanfare after being labelled by some as 'the next Francesco Totti'. During his time in England, he moved into a house with Paul Pogba and helped the under-17 side to win the Milk Cup in 2008.

The versatile youngster started out as a striker but moved into midfield as he progressed through United's youth ranks. He captained the reserve side to multiple trophies, including the Manchester Senior Cup and the Premier League National Shield. A first-team breakthrough never came, though, and he decided to cut ties with United in 2014.

The player in question is Davide Petrucci, who earned comparisons with Totti after scoring 14 times in 19 matches for Roma's youth team. His eye for goal drew United's interest and he joined the club in exchange for a reported £200,000 in compensation.

Petrucci ended up in a houseshare with Pogba and the pair quickly became friends while also striking up a lethal partnership on the pitch. He taught the Frenchman to speak Italian, which stood him in good stead when he joined Juventus in 2012.

"It was fun to live together," Petrucci told in 2019. "We would share stories about his friends in France and mine in Italy, we would teach each other the language, so when he went to Italy he could already speak a bit of Italian.

"People were a little surprised, wondering how he could have been in England and learn to speak Italian. This is why, because me, [Federico] Macheda and the other Italians taught him and he is a quick learner."

Petrucci's strong form at youth level for United saw him called up to train with the first-team squad, where he was involved in a bust-up with Nani. According to the , strong words were exchanged following a heavy challenge during a session.

Later in the day, the Portuguese winger reportedly approached Petrucci and the rest of the squad thought they would talk through their differences. However, everybody was said to have been left 'stunned' when Nani allegedly landed a punch.

Petrucci ultimately failed to break into the senior team and spent time on loan at Peterborough United, Royal Antwerp and Charlton Athletic. He was named in United's league squad for the 2014/15 season but chose to depart in search of regular minutes.

Reflecting on his decision to leave, he explained: "It was hard as I had been there for five years and I felt at home, but sometimes you feel your time is over.

"Unfortunately, during my years at United, I was doing well but always at the wrong moment I would get some kind of injury, which slowed my progress.

"I don't want to use this as an excuse but you see the younger players coming up and you feel like there is no space for you, so I felt it was better to take one step back and be an important member of the team somewhere rather than just being a number."