Primavera profile: 7 things you need to know about Riccardo Marchizza

Get to know the Italian champions with our brand-new feature on Alberto De Rossi's Primavera side starting with centre back Riccardo Marchizza's....

1. “I've always liked football. I was constantly playing, rain or shine. My parents told me that I always used to play on our lawn back home. Football felt right and it was what I most enjoyed doing. I vividly remember my first training session at Trigoria aged nine. I can recall everything about that day - from when I went through the gates to the friendly against Civitavecchia, which thankfully went well and Roma signed me."

2. “I've always played football, I didn't do any other sport. I started when I was four at Fontenovese. I've been a Roma fan my whole life. When I was a kid I used to spend a lot of time at my grandmother's house and my cousins used to watch Roma on Sundays, so I soon started supporting them too."

3. “I've had a lot of coaches over the years, many of whom I'm very grateful to. However, the one person who has shaped my career more than anyone else is my father. He's always helped me - through good times and bad - telling me I hadn't achieved anything yet and that I still had to prove what I could do."

4. “I played midfield when I joined Roma and my childhood hero was Andrea Pirlo. I looked up to him, I liked the way he played the game and he was one of the best around."

5. “My greatest strength is my ability to quickly read the play. Plus the fact that I'm left footed. I need to work on my initial burst of pace, that's something I have to look at because of my powerful build."

6. “Andrea Barzagli is the player I rate most in my position. I think he's the most complete defender there is and I hope to one day reach that level. As for the best player of all time... I must say I'm not that familiar with Diego Maradona or Pele having only watched some video clips, so I'd go with Lionel Messi. He does things no one's ever seen before and he's won almost everything going. He recently lost the Copa America final but he's won it all with Barcelona."

7. “Looking forward, my next goal is to make my first-team debut for Roma. It's something I've always wanted and that really would be the icing on the cake after nine years at the club. That's all I'm focused on for now, everything else will follow.”