Nicolo Zaniolo ponders the question before landing on his answer.

Asked who is his favourite player to watch in the Premier League is, the 20-year-old cannot split two.

'Marcus Rashford and Kevin De Bruyne,' he tells Sportsmail.

Nicolo Zaniolo has fast emerged as one of the most valuable young players across Europe

Marcus Rashford was named as one of his two favourite players from the Premier League

The 20-year-old, linked to Rashford's club Manchester United on Monday, would be one of the primary candidates to be name-checked should players in England be asked to pick their favourite Serie A star given his rapid rise.

These days, his star shines brighter than most.

When quizzed on interest in England, Zaniolo has no desire to entertain the conversation: 'It would be easy to say "yes why not" but it wouldn't be me! I tell you the truth, I recently kissed Roma's shirt and I want to kiss it anytime I score a goal!'

He plays down talk of his Golden Boy nomination and appears all together grounded despite the accolades and records he is winning with what feels like every passing week.

Deployed either wide of a three in a 4-2-3-1 system or as Paulo Fonseca's trequartista (attacking midfielder) versatility is a key part of his appeal.

This season he has kicked on to be a leader, even at his tender age, and with goals added to his game, Zaniolo has fast become the gem of the Giallorossi.

Zaniolo has added more goals to his game and has shown versatility across Roma's attack

Over the international break, Zaniolo bagged his first goals as a senior Italian international

NICOLO ZANIOLO CV Youth career 2008–10: Genoa 2010–16: Fiorentina 2016–17: Virtus Entella Senior career 2016–17: Virtus Entella 2017–18: Inter Milan 2018–PRESENT: Roma Advertisement

But in a city as busy as Rome, how does he get a minute to himself?

'Well, actually I have no time to go around the city,' he concedes.

'I just train, go home and play the matches that's my routine. Then when I have time I spend it with my family and my girlfriend.

'But I tell you one thing, I would like fans to know I love them and I do appreciate when I listen to fans screaming my name. It makes me excited.'

Given similarities in their playing style and the distinct similarities to their roles in the side, comparisons to Roma legend Francesco Totti were inevitable.

Totti, commonly known as the 'eighth king of Rome' to supporters, is the benchmark for any emerging attacker walking through the doors at the Stadio Olimpico.

The label weighs heavier than many others across Italy. While flattered, Zaniolo is choosing to embrace it, rather than collapse under the weight of expectation.

'Francesco Totti is an icon, a real legend of our football,' he said.

'He is something unbelievable for Rome and the entire city. The comparison is an extra motivation to do my best every day.'

It hasn't always been this way for Zaniolo, knighted as the next great hope of Italian football and linked with transfers around the figure of £50million.

Likened to Roma legend Francesco Totti, Zaniolo has learned to use the tag as motivation

Zaniolo started out at Fiorentina as a youth player, but was let go after eight years with them

No, there was a time when Fiorentina cast him aside as a junior with concerns over his physicality. A time where Inter felt he was surplus to requirements as he was used as leverage in a deal to get Radja Nainggolan.

His early days were spent at Fiorentina, with his family based in the Massa, Tuscany region not far from Florence. But after eight years with La Viola, the tears would flow and a skinny and short Zaniolo was rejected, pushed in the direction of second division side Virtus Entella.

The term 'rejection' does not sit well with Zaniolo. He prefers 'underestimated'. But nonetheless, his rise to the top of Serie A has nothing to do with a revenge mission, a desire to prove those who doubted him wrong.

It can happen to anybody in our career to be 'underestimated',' he explains. 'I prefer to use this word. I don't feel 'rejected' and I don't have any type of revenge.

'My first club was Virtus Entella and everything changed a lot but I still have beautiful memories, I always remember my roots and where I grew up.'

What the future holds for Zaniolo is up to him. He has seen the legacy left by Totti and he knows that he can go on to follow in his footsteps to become a Roma great.

But with a fondness for Rashford and De Bruyne, plenty of admiring glances from clubs in England and a game that Sportsmail was told this month could develop into the style of Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard, the Premier League will not be deterred from enticing one of Europe's most exciting stars.

He is adept at scoring from distance and has drawn plenty of admirers in the Premier League