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In Italy’s south, the beautiful city of Lecce is known for its towering historical buildings like the Basilica di Santa Croce, the Porta Napoli and the Duomo.
But there’s now another towering figure in the Pugliese town. He plays in Lecce’s under-18s side and is already making a name for himself.
Jason Vescan-Kodor will be relatively unknown to Australian football fans, but standing already at 190 centimetres tall and still potentially growing, the boy with the body of a man cannot be missed on the field
Vescan-Kodor was a juniors player at one of Romanian’s biggest clubs, Dinamo București, before signing in 2021 for another Romanian club, CAO Oradea.
Oradea in turn loaned him to Sport Team Bucharest, where his performances at youth level caught the eye of clubs around Europe.
Catalin Sarmasan is an agent who manages a lot of the players at Oradea, and he organised trials in Italy for three of the most promising juniors, which included Vescan-Kodor.
The lanky striker had positive sessions at Sampdoria and Torino, with both clubs being happy with his performances. However, there was no contract offer from either.
The third time in Italy was a charm though, with the talented Vescan-Kodor putting pen to paper on a deal to play for Lecce.
(Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Lecce has undertaken an in-depth scouting analysis of Romania during the last few years, and the country has been identified as one with generational football talent starting to filter through.
Vescan-Kodor becomes the fifth Romanian player signed by the club in recent times.
Lecce have benefited from his hot form in the national under-18s championship, where they are fourth on the table and six points behind the leaders with a game in hand.
The side’s star striker has found the back of the net against Sassuolo, Bologna, Roma and Sampdoria, the club he’d earlier trialled at.
A return of four goals in six matches has made the Romanian one of the best strikers in his age group in Italy. He’s currently second in the race for the golden boot.
Used exclusively as a striker in Lecce’s under-18 side, Vescan-Kodor is at the pointy end of their usual 4-2-3-1 formation and plays exactly the same role when the side alters to a 4-3-3.
His height has become a handful for defenders at this age level, with Lecce often relying on his ability to hold the ball up and bring others into play.
Vescan-Kodor is not your typical target man either. Athletically he is able to move around the pitch with ease, he has the technical skills of a much smaller player and he can finish comfortably with both feet.
It has been a long time since Gheorghe Hagi’s exploits at the 1994 World Cup. Romania failed to qualify for the 2020 Euros and will not be at the upcoming Qatar World Cup either.
But as mentioned earlier, Romania is starting to witness a football renaissance through the next generation of young talent.
The country has arguably the best group of underage goalkeepers in Europe, with a host of elite clubs ready to pounce.
Other young players in defence and the midfield are starting to progress through the ranks nicely, but Romania does have a problematic position: striker.
Vescan-Kodor may well be the answer to that riddle for Romania – that is, unless Australia acts quickly to secure his services.
The beanpole striker qualifies to play for the green and gold through a parent.
After coming through the Romanian youth system, the chances of Vescan-Kodor representing Australia appear to be slim, but he is yet another player that Australia should be trying to convince to wear the green and gold shirt.
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