Roma rising star tipped to become Italy’s answer to Paul Pogba

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Italy coach Roberto Mancini believes Nicolo Zaniolo can adopt the same role as Paul Pogba with the two displaying similar attributes.

Pogba, who won the World Cup this summer with France, has been involved in more Premier League goals (8) than any player since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over at Manchester United. Mancini feels Italy have a similar player coming through the ranks.

Who is Nicolo Zaniolo? Five things to know…

  1. Zaniolo recently signed for Roma from Inter as part of the deal for Radja Nainggolan.
  2. His debut goal came just before Christmas against Sassuolo and was shared thousands of times online.
  3. Both he and Pogba play in similar positions and are versatile with attributes useful in both defence and attack.
  4. Zaniolo’s father, Igor, was a professional footballer who played for Italian sides like Genoa, Spezia and Messina.
  5. During his stint at Inter’s Primavera side, Zaniolo finished as the team’s top-scorer with 13 goals as well as taking home the U19s championship.

Mancini is focussed on the future of Italian international football after the side failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after winning it as recently as 2006.

Featuring in his plans are young players Nicolo Zaniolo, Chelsea target Nicolo Barella and Fiorentina star Federico Chiesa.

Mancini recently told La Gazzetta dello Sport, “Zaniolo plays as a ‘trequartista’ at the moment for Roma, but considering his athleticism and technique, I see him as a box-to-box midfielder in the style of Pogba.”

“Zaniolo can become a truly great player”

Since arriving in the capital he has impressed fans and journalists alike. Lauded for his intelligence and ability to read the game, Roma have already received interest from Real Madrid.

His debut goal against Sassuolo at the end of last year, where he calmly chipped the goalkeeper from close range, caught the eyes of social media.

With a great sense of guile and craft, the powerful player is making Serie A aficionados dewy-eyed at the similarities between the 19-year-old and Pogba’s first season at Juventus.
Roma and Italy legend Francesco Totti has also heaped praise on Zaniolo while speaking with Sky Italia: “He has explosive strength and technique, and everything it takes to become a truly great player. Don’t let him hear me, though. He may yet change course and I don’t want that on my shoulders.”
Totti isn’t the only one wary of the hype surrounding the player. Roma’s director of football Ramón Verdejo, better known as Monchi, has adopted the de facto position of buffer between the young player and the media.
He recently said: “I know that Italian football craves new heroes, but with Zaniolo we all need to keep calm – for his good. He has impressed everyone but he’s still just a boy, he’s still just 19.”
Although he’s happy at Roma now, his father recently announced that he was close to moving to Turin giants Juventus instead of Inter as a youth. Although Juventus are the bigger side, he’s clearly been well looked after in Rome.
This also means that he knows he’s a wanted man and may follow suit if fellow Italian Nicolo Barella makes a big money move to the Premier League.

The post Roma rising star tipped to become Italy’s answer to Paul Pogba appeared first on Squawka News.



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