Italy National Team Future Defender Is Gianluca Mancini

DBasia.news – Italy always have the tradition to orbit the talented defender and goalkeeper. One of them is Atalanta defender, Gianluca Mancini.

Indeed, Gianluca Mancini’s name isn’t as popular other Italian young players like Nicolo Barella and Federico Chiesa. But, in terms of defending, Mancini is worth to consider.

Gianluca Mancini’s talent in defending the contender’s attack has been trained in Fiorentina Academy. He was promoted to U19 Fiorentina team in 2013-2014. Two seasons later, he was loaned to Perugia.

The rivalry in Italian football develops Mancini’s talent. He is known with the air duel with the contender’s defender. Besides his 1,9m height, he has nature in reading the ball.

Atalanta, the place of Italian young footballers signed Mancini worth 300,000 euro in January 2017. Apparently, the decision was right. Now, Mancini becomes the irreplaceable player in Orobici’s defensive line.

Besides his talent in defending, Mancini has another ability in scoring the goal. Opta reported the 22-year-old player is the youngest defender that could at least score four goals in five Europe top leagues. Currently, Mancini has collected five goals.

With the bright performance, no wonder Mancini becomes part of U21 Italy national team. Furthermore, he might be called-up by Italy national team Roberto Mancini in the senior squad.

Just like other football players, Mancini also has his own idol. It’s not Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, but he adores Inter Milan legend, Marco Materazzi.

Mancini’s admiration of Materazzi is proved by the “23”, the jersey number of his idol. Moreover, he has been owning the tattoo since he was 16.

“I was 16 years old and playing in the Fiorentina youth team, but I got a tattoo of the number 23 in honor of Marco Materazzi. I liked the idea of a visible example of my football idol,” Mancini told Corriere della Sera.

“I really started to admire Materazzi during the 2006 World Cup, as I loved the way he approached the game, that physicality and grit he put into every ball. He was never afraid and didn’t step back during difficult moments,” he continued.

Interestingly, Inter Milan are interested in signing Mancini during the upcoming summer transfer market. La Beneamata would spend 20 million euro to sign Mancini.

If it’s confirmed, Mancini would be one step closer to his idol, Materazzi. He still has a long way to grow and leads the future Italy defense.