Nicolò Zaniolo

Nicolò Zaniolo (; born 2 July 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Roma and the Italy national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Massa, Tuscany, Zaniolo grew up in the Fiorentina youth system. On the final day of the 2016 mid year transfer window, he was released by Fiorentina, and subsequently joined Virtus Entella. After several months playing for the Entella '' Primavera'' side, Zaniolo was given his professional debut in Serie B on 11 March 2017, aged 17, in a 3–2 win against Benevento. In total, he collected seven appearances for the ''Biancocelesti'' in the 2016–17 season.

On 5 July 2017, Inter Milan announced they had signed Zaniolo, for a reported fee of €1.8 million, plus €1.7 million in bonuses. He played for the '' Primavera'' side in the 2017–18 season, finishing top-scorer of the team with 13 goals and winning the Campionato Nazionale Primavera. Zaniolo made his Inter debut in a pre-season friendly on 9 July 2017. However, he did not play any competitive game for Inter's first team.

Roma

2018–19 season

In June 2018, it was reported that Zaniolo and Davide Santon had joined Roma as a part of the deal moving Radja Nainggolan to Inter. Zaniolo completed his medical on 25 June, and signed a five-year contract with the club, for a fee of €4.5 million plus 15% resell revenue. He made his first appearance for Roma and UEFA Champions League debut on 19 September, in a 3–0 defeat to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. He made his Serie A debut on 26 September 2018, aged 19, in the home match won 4–0 against Frosinone. On 26 December, he scored his first goal in Serie A in a 3–1 win against Sassuolo. The following year, during a UEFA Champions League match against FC Porto, Zaniolo became the youngest Italian player to score twice in a single match in the competition when he scored both of Roma's goals in a 2–1 win.

2019–20 season

On 12 January 2020, Zaniolo suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee during a 2–1 home loss to Juventus. He returned to training in late June 2020. In addition, he received letters of support from both the Italian and global footballing community, including Roberto Mancini, Roberto Baggio, and Francesco Totti, who had previously been operated by the same surgeon.

Although he had been set to miss the remainder of club football season and, highly likely, the upcoming UEFA Euro 2020 (before the UEFA's March 2020 decision to postpone the tournament for a year) as well, all footballing activities in Europe were suspended by March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, with club competitions rescheduled to be played behind closed doors starting since the summer.

On 5 July 2020, Zaniolo made his return-from-injury appearance, coming onto the pitch after 66 minutes in the away Serie A 1–2 loss against Napoli. A week later, Zaniolo scored his first post-injury goal in the away Serie A 3–0 win over Brescia, which was followed by another goal scored at the tail-end of a 6–1 away Serie A win over SPAL on 22 July 2020.

2020–present

Zaniolo missed the entire 2020–21 season due to another anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in September 2020 over the international break. He returned to the pitch in July 2021 during pre-season, under newly appointed coach José Mourinho.

Zaniolo scored his first goal since his return from his second knee injury in the 3–0 win over Trabzonspor in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League. On 25 May 2022, he scored the only goal as Roma beat Feyenoord in the final to win the Europa Conference League.

International career

Youth

With the Italy under-19 side, Zaniolo took part in the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, reaching the final of the tournament, which Italy lost 4–3 after extra time against Portugal.

He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 11 October 2018, under manager Luigi Di Biagio, in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Belgium.

Senior

On 1 September 2018, he was given his first senior international call-up for Italy by manager Roberto Mancini – without having received a cap in Serie A – for Italy's opening UEFA Nations League matches against Poland and Portugal later that month.

He made his debut with the senior team on 23 March 2019, entering as a substitute for Verratti in a 2–0 home win over Finland in Italy's opening UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match. He made his first start for Italy on 15 October, in a 5–0 away win against Liechtenstein, in a Euro 2020 qualifier (the opposition that day included Yanik Frick, a childhood friend). His first international goals came on 18 November, a brace in a 9–1 home win over Armenia, in Italy's final Euro 2020 qualifier; he also set up Ciro Immobile's second goal during the match.

On 7 September 2020, after being called up for the start of Italy's campaign in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League, he suffered a second anterior cruciate ligament injury in eight months, this time in his left knee, in an eventual 1–0 away win over the Netherlands.

Style of play

Standing at , Zaniolo is a tall, strong, and fast player, who is also a good dribbler. A versatile player, due to his creativity, technique, work-rate, energy, and physicality, he can operate in several midfield positions, and has been used as an attacking midfielder or "trequartista," as an offensive-minded central midfielder or "mezzala," as a box-to-box midfielder, and even as a deep-lying playmaker.

He can even play out on the flanks, due to his goalscoring abilities, ability to create chances for teammates, the breadth he provides, and the attacking threat he poses with his striking ability from distance and penchant for making late runs.

A talented player, he is considered one of Italy's and Europe's most promising young prospects.

Personal life

Zaniolo is the son of , a former professional footballer who played as a forward in Serie B and Serie C. He has a son, Tommaso, born in 2021 from his former girlfriend Sara Scaperrotta.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.''

Honours

Roma
* UEFA Europa Conference League: 2021–22

Italy U19
* UEFA European Under-19 Championship runner-up: 2018

Individual
* UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament (Substitutes): 2018
* Serie A Best Young Player: 2018–19

References

External links

*

FIGC profile

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaniolo, Nicolo
1999 births
Living people
People from Massa
Association football midfielders
Italian footballers
Serie A players
Serie B players
Italy youth international footballers
Italy under-21 international footballers
Italy international footballers
Virtus Entella players
Inter Milan players
A.S. Roma players
Sportspeople from the Province of Massa-Carrara
Footballers from Tuscany
UEFA Europa Conference League winning players