Riccardo Marchizza
Country: Italy
Date of birth: 26/03/1998 (18 years old)
Place of birth: Rome (Italy)
Height: 185cm
Youth career: Tor Lupara, AS Roma (since 2006)
Current club: AS Roma
Squad number: 91
Current national team: Italy U-19
Position: central defender, left-back
Preferred foot: left
Market value (by transfermarkt.de): 400.000 €
Tournaments participated in: UEFA Youth League 2014/2015 (2/0), Viareggio Cup 2015 (5/0), UEFA Youth League 2015/2016 (9/3), UEFA Youth League 2016/2017 (2/0)
Contract until: unknown
Player’s agent: Player Management – Italy
Transfer rumours: —
Similar type of player: Jan Vertonghen
Strengths:
– marking 
– aerial duels
– athleticism
– tackling and intercepting
– positioning 
– pace & acceleration 
– anticipation
– bravery
– leadership 
Weaknesses:
No significant weaknesses.
Style of play:
– versatile, complete and dominant defender
– modern defender, who combines strength with good technique and passing
– able to play as a left back as well, making him a more versatile and well-rounded player
– strong left foot also helps in the balance of the team when paired up with a right-footer
– feels comfortable and has a decent composure on the ball, making part of the team’s build-up process at the first instances
– well-fit, hard-working, and quick at anticipating the movement of the opponents
– accurate, concentrate and tenacious tackler
– likes to maraud forward
– likes to spread play with good long-range diagonals
– extremely dominant in the air
– indirect set-piece threat
– high tackling and interception rate
– able to control the threat of the attacker without causing an imbalance in the defensive line
– accurate penalty taker
– natural leader
He is best suited to playing as:
Central defender in 4-3-3.
Video:
Achievements:
Coppa Italia Primavera 2014/2015 runner-up with Roma.
Campionato Primavera 2015/2016 winner with Roma.
Supercoppa Primavera 2016 winner with Roma.
League summary (as for 29 October 2016):
No senior team appearances yet.
Description:
Riccardo Marchizza was born in Rome and joined AS Roma youth academy at the age of eight. He is a very talented defender tipped to follow in the footsteps of other famous ‘Giallorossi’ graduates such as Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi, Alberto Aquilani, Alessandro Florenzi, Andrea Bertolacci and Alessio Romagnoli. In July 2016, he was invited to join Luciano Spalletti’s first-team group for the training camp and even scored the winning goal in a friendly game against Terek Grozny. He is also a regular youth international for Italy, having been capped at the U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-19 levels.
Quotes:
‘I’m observing Kostas Manolas the most. I think he’s one of the best defenders in both Italy and the world. I’m trying to learn from his positioning, his movement and his aerial game.’
(Riccardo Marchizza)
Football Talent Scout potential rating:
8/10 
First team material in a top European club.
Links: