Former Inter Primavera boss Stefano Vecchi says Nicolo Zaniolo was already playing like a leader for the Nerazzurri last season.
Zaniolo has scored three goals and two assists in Serie A for Roma this season after joining the Giallorossi as part of the deal that took Radja Nainggolan to Inter in the summer.
The 19 year-old grabbed the equaliser in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Milan and was called up to Roberto Mancini’s Italy squad for the international break in October.
“When Zaniolo joined Inter [in 2017] I discovered a player who was already grown up,” Vecchi told Calciomercato.com.
“The year he’d had at Virtus Entella [in their first team] had helped him develop.”
Zaniolo was part of the Inter Primavera team that clinched the 2017-18 Scudetto with a victory over Fiorentina in the final.
The Viola had rejected him as a child but Vecchi insisted the midfielder was not bitter when playing against them.
“There was no desire for revenge when he played that match,” he said.
“For him it was more about the emotion of seeing old friends again.
“He was a leader [in that team] and the others followed him.”
