Azzurri CT Roberto Mancini spoke to the press from Coverciano, as he has made call-ups leading up to next month's Euro 2020 qualifiers against Finland and Liechtenstein.
"I am very happy, because I see young players playing as contributors. They're growing, like how Zaniolo is showing. He's become a starter for Roma and is showing the ability to compete without problems for the Nazionale. The hope is to continue to improve and play better. I was very optimistic in September, today it looks like I was mostly right."
More on Zaniolo: "I called him up because I had followed the Euro U19 and I like him, we understood that he could become a player of the future. It was good of Di Francesco to play him. He can also play in the Nazionale. He's grown very quickly and perhaps unexpectedly. He's a modern midfielder with technical and physical qualities."
On Balotelli: "He's part of the group, his future with the team depends on him, not on me or others. He's played twice in the last 4/5 months, that's not a lot. If he's able to score every match from now until March, maybe he'll receive a call."
On Quagliarella and Cutrone: "Quagliarella's call-up? Up front we are strong, but didn't score many goals. He's playing well and is the leading goal scorer, he deserves it. Cutrone will have a future with the Nazionale and is under our observation. He'll be there the next round. The hope is that those who aren't scoring many goals right now are able to go back to scoring."
On Chiesa: "He's an offensive winger and scoring goals need to be in his arsenal. He runs a lot, with experience he'll learn to run on empty. I hope he continues like this."
