The centre-back found himself in the middle of Pianese's battle for promotion to Serie B this season. Currently in the third division of Italian football, they finished sixth in Group 2, allowing them a spot in the play-offs. Promotion didn't go through but it was a sign of how they are heading in the right direction.
Based in the unremarkable town of Piancastagnaio in Siena, Pianese certainly don't belong to the bright lights of the game. It is at the Tuscan club that Ercolani is now enjoying life as a footballer. He has now played over 50 times for them, joining them in 2025 after a spell at Foggia.
Noting how life is these days, the Italian tells Flashscore: “I feel much more confident from a physical perspective. I have been injury free for three or four seasons, so I can't complain.
"I still think I can improve in some aspects but it is something I'm working on. But I think I'm the closest I can be to the best version of myself.”
The physical aspect has been a major theme of Ercolani's professional career. The defender has dealt quite well with how a knee injury ruined his Manchester United chance and he recounts his time with the Red Devils rather fondly.
Now 26, he looks back on how the move to Old Trafford first transpired. It came out of nowhere in 2016 when he was still plying his trade with Forli's youth side.
“United interest came back in around 2014, I was still playing in a youth team in Italy. One day, a man approached me, introduced himself as a scout at Manchester United. At first, I couldn't believe it. It was impossible for me to be near a person like him. From that day, the journey started.”
That ‘man’ was David Williams, who was key behind bringing Federico Macheda and Giuseppe Rossi to the red side of Manchester.
“He wanted to meet my family and wanted to know me as a person. Eventually, he came back to see me many times. I kept performing well and one day, he decided I was the one to take a trial in Manchester.”
Ercolani describes all this as a surreal experience. He was only 15 back then, playing for the youth team of a club which wasn't even in the top two divisions of the Italian game. Manchester United's decision to sign him sparked a dream for him to play professionally.
“When United tried to sign me, it was after the second trial, six months after the first one. When this Italian scout told me that there was big interest, it was surreal. I couldn't wait for the moment anymore and I was dreaming of it.
“I couldn't wait to move to England because I had to wait for my 16th birthday to meet the FIFA rules. It changed my life, it was surreal. As a youngster, I had to move abroad. But in my mind, there was nothing but the desire to play professionally."
The start to life in England wasn't easy at all for 16-year-old Ercolani. He began playing for the Manchester United U18s side but he found himself in a completely foreign environment and that is always likely to prove challenging to a teenager.
He tells Flashscore about how his teammates proved to be helpful: “The first few days they were very strange. I was feeling very lonely in a world I didn't know. Spending 15 years at home, with your parents and friends every day.
“It was quite strange but I must say I adapted quite well. A big advantage I had was having teammates coming from abroad themselves. From Spain, France and other parts of Europe. That helped me a lot.”
Ercolani adapted soon and this led to his quick rise through the ranks. In the 2017/18 campaign, he played for United in the UEFA Youth League, breaking into the U21s side in the very next season.
At that point, the Italian began attracting attention from the first-team. Then-manager Jose Mourinho kept tabs on his development and called him up to training with the senior team multiple times.
The Portuguese's successor - Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also keen on taking a closer look and even the Norwegian kept Ercolani around the first-team setup.
This came as hope for the youngster, who seemed on the verge of making his debut under Solskjaer.
That was soon snatched, as Ercolani picked up a knee injury that turned his career around.
With some regret, he says: “Before my knee injury, I was probably the closest defender from the U23s to train with the first-team once or twice a week. I was a regular for the U23s under Mourinho.”
He recalls how Solskjaer handed first-team debuts to several academy players during Manchester United's Europa League group stage tie against Astana in Kazakhstan. If not for the knee injury, Ercolani should've made his debut that day too.
“Unfortunately the knee injury happened and coincidentally, that year, most of the starting XI from the U23s made their debuts in Kazakhstan against Astana in a Europa League game.”
“Angel Gomes, D'Shon Bernard and Tahith Chong made their debuts and unfortunately, I was out on the sidelines. I was very happy for them but it was bad timing for me. That was the closest I could've come to making a first-team debut.”
In more ways than one, the ACL injury came at the wrong time for Ercolani. Lockdown restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 made sure that the process of recovery became a different challenge altogether.
Detailing how it went, he says: “There was never a thought of quitting but when I was back in Italy during my ACL rehab, it was very scary. Everyone during that time had more time to think and so did I. I was thinking too much. I was thinking of how to come back, how to return as my contract was running out. There were many thoughts.”
Family and friends played a major role in helping the defender pull through. While being grateful for that in hindsight, Ercolani reveals he had an opportunity to seek a loan exit before knee injuries started piling up. He chose not to pursue them but looking back, he would change this decision.
“There were only small possibilities after the knee injury. The only chances I had were loans at lower leagues like below League One. I wasn't interested. It was unfortunate because I could've gone before the injuries and it would have sped up my development as a player.”
The injury became a watershed point of Ercolani's career. Soon came the dreaded news that Manchester United will not renew his contract and he would have to look for other clubs.
Despite how this altered the direction of his career, Ercolani is glad he was able to play professionally after the setback. In a way, his release came at the best time possible too.
“When I was told by Nicky Butt that the club won't renew my contract, I tried to be as easy as possible, I took it well and I was looking forward to the next challenge. I was 21, it was my aim to play first-team football and I saw it as the right time for that.
“I could've started earlier but I had no other option but to start as soon as I could.”
In 2021, he departed Manchester United and joined Carpi, who were then in Serie C. He also had spells at Alessandria and Foggia, becoming a regular at Pianese since the 2024/25 campaign.
Looking back, he admits that his career would've been much different if not for the injuries. Just a single appearance - perhaps against Astana, could've changed his life entirely. But he is now a big believer in fate and looks back on his career kindly.
“I think my career could've been different but everyone has his own path and if something has to happen, it will happen. Bad luck can happen to anyone. I've always tried to create my luck and I'm conscious just one appearance at United could've been a life-changing moment.”
Even if things didn't go the right way at United, the experience has shaped him into what he is today. He learned more than just football during the spell at Old Trafford.
“The experience I got was more than a football career. It helped me grow mentally, physically and as a person. I met so many people, learnt a new language and I can say I'm a better human because of that. I will always be grateful to the people at the club, who always treat me like family.”
The connection with United hasn't disappeared either. During lockdown, the club helped Ercolani quite a bit, offering him the chance to do his UEFA B badges.
“During my ACL rehab, United offered me the UEFA B badge, which I did with Neil Bailey, who is a FA member. It helped me take my mind off football when I was finished with recovery.”
Expressing further gratitude, he says: “I think I've been very lucky with United because they help a lot for players even when they drop out of academies. I'm still a member of the FA and United as a club offer me a lot of courses to do. If I go back to Manchester, I'm sure I could have help from the club to work with them or attend a university course.”
Ercolani believes the same might not be a pattern in Italy, where players can find themselves struggling if they drop out of major academies. That doesn't sit right with him.
“Italy is very different. In the third division, it is hard to find a club that offers this kind of stuff but I think the clubs should take care of the players during, after their stay at the club because it is always good to reconnect after a player leaves to keep that connection and the relationship you create, it is very good to create opportunities for everyone.”
Even if Ercolani never played for Manchester United, he remains tied to the club as their first push during lockdown led him towards the path of education.
He now has a degree in Food Science and Gastronomy and the defender is also working on a thesis about nutrition through Universita San Raffaele Di Roma.
He balances football with studies regularly and is in the best physical shape of his life. This allows him to play regularly for Pianese, where he has put injuries well behind him. Amidst all of that, the centre-back continues to harbour ambitions about working in football after he retires.
Even if he isn't sure of whether that would be in a coaching capacity or a directorial capacity, Ercolani is certain that football is much more than what happens on the pitch. He offers advice to his younger self about why that truly matters.
“I'd say it is very important to create relationships, in football and outside, but as you are careful on the pitch to do the right things. You should be careful off the pitch, who you are staying with, people you have around.”
“This is what I've learnt in the 10 years of my career.”