The Serie A has been unable to find some of the same success of it’s past and this has reflected in the profile of the players the league is able to attract, mainly to the bigger teams. Despite this, one particular area the country prides itself on is the quality of it’s youth systems and number of fantastic names the clubs produce.
An unfortunate part of this process is players that start at a particular club’s youth academy, will not necessarily be selected to play for the same senior team. Claudio Marchisio of Juventus, Lorenzo Insigne of Napoli and Alessio Romagnoli of Roma are some of very few exceptions to this rule.
Romagnoli began his career with Roma’s youth academy, eventually turning heads with the primavera squad which earned him an unexpected and early call up to the senior team under the tutelage of Zdenek Zeman during the 2012-13 season.
Rudi Garcia also liked what he saw and handed Romagnoli another 11 Serie A appearances during the following campaign, becoming the preferred option over Dodo at the left-back position after coming back from injury.
Despite his great form, Romagnoli was loaned to Sampdoria over 2014-15 and was outstanding throughout, helping the Blucerchiati to finish in seventh and cement a qualifying position for the upcoming Europa League.
Featuring in the recent International Champions Cup tournament in Australia against Manchester City, Roma are contemplating an offer from AC Milan for the centre-back, however, he is unlikely to be sold.
Romagnoli will be looking to break-up the Rudi Garcia preferred defensive partnership of Kostas Manolas and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, now that Davide Astori has left the club for Fiorentina.
He provides the Giallorossi with true centre-back characteristics. He is able to make a strong challenge, aerially sound and distributes the ball with very good accuracy. Often keeping the game as simple as possible could well be his greatest strength.
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This style of play can be compared to the AC Milan legend Alessandro Nesta, who would very rarely come out second best in a one-on-one contest.
His talents have not gone unnoticed at international either, representing Italy at all levels from under-16’s and above. This includes being a essential player of the 2015 UEFA European under-21 Championship team for important group stage games against Portugal and England.
There are not too many negatives to note against the young Romagnoli, perhaps inexperience, but that too would be clutching at straws.
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