Zaniolo makes Italy history

By Football Italia staff

Roma midfielder Nicolò Zaniolo is the fourth Italy player to receive a call-up before he has even made his Serie A debut.

He turned 19 in July and came up through the Inter youth academy, but made the move to Roma as part of the deal taking Radja Nainggolan to San Siro.

The creative midfielder was a very surprising pick for Roberto Mancini’s Italy squad in the UEFA Nations League clashes with Poland and Portugal.

Zaniolo played 18 games for Italy at Under-19 level, scoring six goals, but is yet to feature in Serie A.

He becomes the fourth player in history to be called up for the senior Italy squad before he has made his top flight debut.

The others are Raffaele Costantino back in 1929, followed by Massimo Maccarone in 2002 and Marco Verratti in 2012.

However, Maccarone was bumped up from the Under-21 side, whereas Zaniolo hasn’t even played for the Under-21 side yet.

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