Serie A has held a reputation for being something of a retirement home for players nearing the end of their careers, but recent seasons have proven that stereotype to be outdated.
There is a new generation of stars – Italian or otherwise – coming through in Serie A at the moment and while there are already some established youngsters, there are plenty more ready to make a name for themselves in 2017/18.
This list is by no means exhaustive or the best five young talents in Italy and won’t include Gianluigi Donnarumma, Franck Kessie et al, but rather five that might otherwise be overlooked by people who don’t religiously follow Serie A.
To make the list players must be 21-years old or younger.
Alex Meret – SPAL (on loan from Udinese)
Meret’s form last season was so impressive in Serie B that it earned him an Azzurri call-up while his SPAL side were pushing for promotion to Serie A, much to the annoyance of coach Leonardo Semplici and the Ferrara faithful.
Thankfully, SPAL continued their run and secured their place in Italy’s top tier for 2017/18 and did so with the third best defensive record in Serie B.
Twenty-year old Meret is owned by Udinese but with plenty of goalkeeping talent already in Friuli, he was loaned back to the Biancazzurri to continue his development.
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