Salernitana wingback Pasquale Mazzocchi has named Inter Vice-President and legendary former captain Javier Zanetti as his idol in football.
Speaking in an interview with Italian news outlet StarCasino published on their YouTube channel, the 27-year-old praised Zanetti and also named another former Nerazzurri player as his current inspiration, in the form of Bayern Munich’s Joao Cancelo.
Mazzocchi has been in football for some time, but it has been with Salerintana over the past couple of seasons that he has really emerged as a top talent.
Having spent time with the likes of Parma and Perugia before joining Venezia and helping them to promotion, the wingback joined the Granata in January of 2022.
Mazzocchi’s form over the first part of the current season made him a target for a number of top clubs, including Inter who have been monitoring him as a potential replacement in the event that Robin Gosens were to be sold.
In the meantime, the 27-year-old earned his first ever call-up to the Italian national team during the fall.
A knee injury has kept Mazzocchi out of action for some time, although he is getting closer and closer to recovering and being able to make a return, where he will hope to continue to impress and catch the eye of top clubs.
As far as who he models his game after, the 27-year-old Salernitana man still has a connection to a former Nerazzurri great in the form of Zanetti.
The Argentine is currently Vice-President at Inter, continuing his adventure from his playing days, but he had also made nearly a thousand appearances for the club as a player, captaining them for the majority of them.
Mazzocchi noted that “When I was young I played as more of an attacking winger, and so I watched a lot of Cristiano Ronaldo, especially his mentality.”
“However, my idol has always been Javier Zanetti,” he continued.
“Now, I’m inspired by Joao Cancelo,” the 27-year-old added.
