Our "Midnight" Star is Filippo Calixte Mane, and he was born on March the 8th, 2005, in Milan, Italy, and started playing football when he was four years old.
As soon as he could, he joined a Milanese team called Vela Mesero, but in 2013 he was scouted by another team, Novara Calcio. They kept him until 2019, then traded him to Sampdoria, in Genoa. Whilst he was there, he was spotted by Borussia Dortmund, and asked if he would like to join their highly regarded youth academy. And he said he would.
He joined them at the beginning of 2022, moving to Germany, aged just sixteen. The academy pitted all the players against each other, and our man was selected for the Under 17s. And he soon became the captain. That led to the team making him an offer of a professional contract, which he accepted.
He also played for his country in the Euro 2024, which was held in Northern Ireland.
But sadly, he suffered several injuries, and seldom played in his first Bundesliga season. And he did not appear on a card until the 2024 Topps set of "Borussia Dortmund".
As for our card, this is one of the base cards from the second edition of this night themed Topps set which began in 2023/24, which links football "stars" with the sky - and as well as the base set, there are parallels called "After Hours", "Black Light", "Darkness Delights", "Daybreak", "Dream Chasers", "Lunar Legends", "Midnight", "Moon Beams", "Moon Rise", "Nebular Nights", "Nightfall", "Timeless Tides", "Twilight", and "Zodiac" - as well as "Celestial Symphony Autographs", "Horizon Signatures" and "Jersey Relic Autographs". and I have to say it is most attractive.
It is also the latest set I know of that was issued in any April.