Emilio Migliorelli: Hong Kong to Spain, Balancing Professional Ambition with Academic Excellence 

By KH - HK Kickers
22 April 2026

For many, in the first instance, they cannot connect Emilio Migliorelli’s face with his Italian-style name, because what they see is the face of an ethnically Chinese person. Emilio has not been too pleased with that. 

“For me it's been one of the things that's frustrated me a little bit more, just because having such an Italian name. Sometimes when you go with Hong Kong team, for example, last year in Kai Tak [International Youth Football Charity Cup], nobody really knew me until after the two games, even though I had spent my entire childhood at Kitchee. It was a little bit frustrating, but I can understand why.” 

For those who are scratching their heads, Emilio was born in Hong Kong in November 2007, but he was adopted into an Italian family when he was a kid. He spent the first 13 years of his life mostly in Hong Kong, with his adoptive family who had been living in the city for 20 years. In his younger days, Emilio started playing football in Wan Chai, and later slowly progressed in the Kitchee academy until the Under-16s. There, he had befriended a lot of players who are making their names for themselves in the HK Premier League recently, such as Chan Shing-chun (Kitchee), Max Chan and Calum Bloxham (HKFC). 

That was until he and his family made a big decision to relocate to Barcelona. 

“This was more of a family decision rather than a football decision. My family always wanted to move back to Europe, obviously being Italian, but they didn't want to move back to Italy since they grew up there ... so we decided to move to Spain instead, and Barcelona seemed like one of the nicer places.” 

It does not mean that Emilio’s family had lost sight of his promising football career; in fact, it was the opposite. “It was also keeping in mind that they thought that I could really improve my football in Europe. ... and I was really lucky because Kitchee has strong connections with Spain. I was able to write some messages and emails, then I got in contact with the team, and I had a team [within] 3 days. It was really surprising and fast.” 

The team that accepted Emilio first was a team called Jàbac i Terrassa, a local club that has been well-known in the region thanks to some of its extraordinary graduates, namely Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Riqui Puig. Emilio received guidance at the club from a coach who has experience coaching in the prestigious La Masia. With the help of the coach, Emilio saw himself progressing through the ranks of the under-16s and under-19s of Jàbac.

Nevertheless, Emilio’s journey in Spain did not stop there. From the capital of Catalonia, he made his way alone to the capital of Spain. He has since been showcasing his skills in the club of Atlètic Sant Just, and currently Rayo Ciudad Alcobendas CF.  

It raises the question: why the switch from Barcelona to Madrid? 

“A lot of my teammates and friends really questioned the decision. But, ever since I was at Kitchee, me and my family, our idea was for me to move to the United States and play Division 1 football at a university, to boost my career not only football-wise but also academically.”  

If you follow HK football long enough, you will soon realise that Emilio is not the only young talent from Hong Kong to have such an aim. “I know two that I played with, which are Osmond [Chan] and Jeremy [Tsang],” Tsang won the NCAA D1 National Championship with the University of Vermont, and has already made his HK men’s team (unofficial) debut against Manchester United last May. 

“The main reason we moved to Madrid is because there's an American university here, and it would have made it a very easy to transition from the American university into the United States.” To facilitate the aim of studying while playing in an American university, Emilio has moved to Madrid and has been doing part-time school to get used to the environment of being in a university. After finishing his under-19's career in Spain, he can take everything he has learned and set sail for the States, prepared.  

“Another reason I switched from Barcelona to Madrid is because in Barcelona, I was playing the fifth division of under-19 ... this coach [at Jàbac i Terrassa] had obviously a lot of connections, he was able to get me in contact with a coach in Madrid, and this team was a first-division under-19s team. [It] means that I made a four-division jump, as well as being able to ensure the smooth transition into the States later on.” 

America may not be the preferred destination for many aspiring footballers when they wish to make progress in their careers, but Emilio sees it from a different perspective and believes that he has made the right choice.  

“You see the magnitude of players that try and don't have their own backup plan. I would say that when I was 14, 15 at Kitchee, I always thought, maybe there's a chance I [could] go straight to professional. Maybe if I stayed in Hong Kong, I would have had a bigger chance. There have been some talks, but very minor talks of me going back to Hong Kong now, studying at HKU, and maybe playing for a Hong Kong Premier League team, but they're just not very convincing enough for me.” 

“Most of the schools I'm talking to are in very good areas of the United States. If I end up having a 4-5 year career of football, which is gonna be guaranteed for me now, that I'll take the 4 or 5 years, I'll get the most out of it, and I'll finish with a degree, and I'll be able to get a very good job because I'll be in good areas of the United States.” The player plans to study international business at the university given his fluency in several European languages and exposure to different cultures. 

“Or, the second idea would be to have a good college career and then get into the MLS draft, and then from the MLS draft, go into Europe, which is quite easy for me ... since I have an Italian passport so I don't have to go through all the visa processes and things like that.” 

In Emilio’s point of view, having a “second option” as a backup plan while pursuing your football dream is no less crucial, and it should not be regarded as an underestimation of your ability. “I do believe in myself to a very high extent. But I also think that there's certain levels at which you can say, I'm gonna make it to here, and you always need to have in mind that there's not gonna be too many second chances, especially once you reach [the age of 18 to 22], you have to start getting a job, start organizing your life... There's not that many [opportunities] to make mistakes. So as many backups as you can have, probably I'd say the better for yourself.” 

He has seen that with his eyes: a lot of up-and-coming youngsters in the same team with him in Spain do not proceed with their high school study, some of them working at the age of 15, 16 with proper academic qualifications. It probably motivates the players more, but from Emilio’s perspective, putting players in such a make-or-break situation is not completely ideal. 

“They're implementing new schools or academies in Spain where it's specifically directed to getting players in having them study, and then going to the States. I've seen it with 2 or 3 players that I know that in the last year of under-19s, they were like, “okay, this might not work”, so they went into these programs, they took some exams, got some good marks, then they ended up going to the States, and now are playing at very good schools.” 

“So I think people now are realizing more the importance of having the second option there, and I do think that it needs to be more forced onto at a younger age, because there's too many that end up not going to where they think they can go.” 

For now, the short-term goals for Emilio are relatively simple: leave with a degree, play football at a high level in the States, and continue with the Hong Kong representative team obligations which have certainly been an honour for him. 

“For me, in comparison to most of the players on the team, it's very, very, very special. When I made the transition into Kitchee, under-12s, under-13s, under-14s. I felt like almost every single week, somebody from Kitchee would ask me, ‘Do you have Hong Kong passport?’ Obviously, I have a very Italian name but Chinese face, so I'd assume that people wouldn't expect firsthand to see that or to understand that I would have a Hong Kong passport.” 

“I'd go home and tell my parents, ‘Oh, this might be the chance [to represent HK]’. But unfortunately, it never came, and I wouldn't say very disappointed, because I never really understood what it meant to represent your city. I sort of just let it slide, then I moved to Spain, and then after a year in Spain, the representative team got into contact with me and asked me to send some footage of me playing, and luckily, in December 2023, I got my first under-18s call-up.” 

“And then in 2024, which is when Darren [Arnott] was appointed as the coach of the under-20s. We did a month-long camp in preparation for AFC [U-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers], I was 15 at the time, in the under-20 camp. And it was a very big camp, we started with 50 players, and ended with 23, and I was able, at 15 years old, to make every single elimination process into the 23-men squad. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it into the final squad, which was quite disappointing for me.” 

Despite the letdown, it was not long until Emilio got called up again by the under-20 team. This time it was the Kai Tak International Youth Football Charity Cup tournament in 2025. "That was the first time I really understood what it felt like to represent Hong Kong, because it was the first time we stayed in a hotel together as a team, the first time we played in front of some fans, and it was the opening of the youth stadium in Kai Tak. So that was the first time I really felt like representing Hong Kong, and yeah, it's a very, very, very good feeling.” 

Since then, the Madrid-based midfielder has become a regular in the under-20s squad. He participated in both training camps in Foshan last November and Thailand this March. “I'll be honest, the level at the camp surprised me a lot. I'd say 2025 Kai Tak and 2026 Thailand have been the camps that have surprised me the most in terms of the level of the team.” 

“Obviously, in Kai Tak, I was still younger, so I was playing with older guys, that ... I think all of them are playing at Hong Kong Premier League teams. At the time, it was their first or second year in HKPL, and you can really tell the difference from playing with these guys the summer before in the AFC preparations, to after they turn pro. It might not be a European league, or Japan, or Korea, but just playing with men really changes the way that you play.” 

“So, I was left quite surprised, and of course, coming back now with all the people that I know, now playing Hong Kong Premier League teams ... you can really tell that there has been a lot of improvement. And then, of course, Ryan [Fok], he's on his own path in Dubai. I already have high expectations for him, especially him being one of my best friends.” Fok, another young midfielder, is now developing his career at Gulf United FC from the UAE First Division League. 

Apart from his old friends and competitors back in the younger days, Emilio has welcomed some newcomers to the team, and he is proactive to assume the leadership duties as one of the more senior members. “For example, this camp [in Thailand] we had the opportunity to invite Joshua Baker from the States, and he was a very, very, very good player. Even playing out of position in striker, he demonstrated that he could play at the under-20s level, no problem.”  

“I've always seen myself as a leader. I'd say, so even when I was 14, 15 in the under-20s, I was always very vocal, very loud. Even not being a captain, or not being part of a leadership group, I still want to always picture myself as a leader and someone who can bring up the younger players, but also help the players around me.” 

It is just one of the many signs displaying Emilio’s preparedness for the upcoming challenges in his football career. As he talks, one can easily notice his mental resilience. 

“I'm quite aware that things won't always go your way ... I think the most pivotal moment in my life so far was not making it into the 2024 AFC [Qualifiers] with the under-20s, because I had a very good month, I won the Player of the Month in the camp, I won Player of the Match in our last match.” 

“So, being 15, having all the senior players around you telling me like, “you're gonna go, you're gonna do well, it's a good opportunity for you”, and even some of the staff giving me a lot of encouragement into me thinking that I would be going to AFC in 2024, and then ending up not going? It's really taught me that sometimes you can really, really, really work hard for something, and it may not happen, right?”  

But the biggest lesson young Emilio had learnt was that things are never going in a straight line. Setbacks do happen from time to time, but how you handle disappointment and keep yourself backed up matters much more. 

“That sort of taught me that, you know. I'm finishing school now, I'm gonna move away from my family, I'm still gonna pursue football, but I gotta make sure that I'm backed up by school, by everything in the States as well, because ... what happens if I get injured? What happens if something happens and my contract gets terminated? Then I'm stuck. Because I'm far away from my family, I don't have a degree, I'm not playing football...” 

“I do think when I was younger, it was difficult to believe that, because I always thought, ‘I'm playing for Kitchee, things should be going more smoothly’. But then you learn that, playing for Kitchee, is, on one hand, very positive, but [on the other hand], it's Kitchee, you have to keep a reputation, you have to always perform, you have to make sure you're at your best all the time. Everything is very double-sided, but you just gotta try and look always at the positive.” 

“No one really knows what's gonna happen in the next 10 years, no one knows what's gonna happen in the next 10 minutes, so we just have to be patient, and I just gotta do my work, keep my head down. And hopefully the best happens, and whatever happens, it’s the best for me.”  

If he keeps his head down and carries on working with his perseverance as usual, it will only be a matter of time before the younger generation look up to him when he performs at the highest level possible. 

Profile:
Emilio Migliorelli
DOB: 2007-11-19
Position: AM, CM