Former Inter, Roma, and Cagliari midfielder Radja Nainggolan feels that Inter’s Nicolo Barella is following a similar path to him in terms of stylistic development.
Speaking to the Instagram channel of Italian news outlet Tradizione Romanista, via FCInterNews, Nainggolan noted that he’d already encountered Barella in the youth team at Cagliari, and commented on the 25-year-old’s stylistic growth.
When Barella arrived at Inter in the summer of 2019 from Cagliari, he already had a well-established reputation as a hard-working, combative, and skilful midfielder who could give his team a lot in deeper areas of the pitch.
In each season from then on, however, Barella has added more to his game in terms of goals, assists, and all-around play in the final third.
This recalls the evolution of Nainggolan, who had always been well-known for his physicality and defensive contributions at Cagliari and Roma, but under coach Luciano Spalletti became a more regular source of goals.
Like Barella, the Belgian found that his physical and technical characteristics could be put to good use in the final third, and he himself feels that this is an apt comparison.
“In terms of his evolution as a player, I see him as following a very similar path to me,” Nainggolan said of Barella.
“I was already with him when he was in the Cagliari youth team,” he added.
