Niccolò Pisilli scored his first senior goal for Roma on Thursday and was one of the latest players from the Giallorossi’s youth sector to make his debut under José Mourinho.
Pisilli, 17, burst into tears after scoring in Roma’s 3-0 Europa League win over Sheriff on Thursday. It was his second appearance with the Giallorossi’s senior team as he had made his Serie A debut as a substitute in a 2-0 loss against Inter last season.
Pisilli is among the 13 products of Roma Academy to make his senior debut under Mourinho since the Special One took over at the Stadio Olimpico in 2021. Mourinho has often highlighted that he’s been giving chances in the first team to Primavera players, who he calls ‘kids.’
The first one was Felix Afena-Gyan who was 20 when he made his Serie A debut in Cagliari-Roma in October 2021.
He was followed by Filippo Missori, 19, in a Conference League game against Zorya in 2021. Cristian Volpato, 20, made his first senior appearance with Roma in the same year against Inter in Serie A. Both Missori and Volpato joined Sassuolo last summer.
Dimitrios Keramitsis made his senior debut at 19 in Roma-Cagliari in 2022. Giacomo Faticanti was also 19 when he played his first Roma game against HJK Helsinki last year while Benjamin Tahirovic, 20, now at Ajax, debuted in a Serie A game against Torino in November 2022.
Six players from Roma’s academy have made their first appearance with the senior squad in 2023: Jordan Majchrzak, 19, against Sassuolo, Pisilli against Inter, Riccardo Pagano, 19, against Salernitana, Francesco D’Alessio, 19 against Servette, Luigi Cherubini and Joao Costa, 19 and 18 respectively against Slavia Praha and Mattia Mannini, 17, against Sheriff last night.
All seria A coaches should follow his lead. Unbelievable that a Spanish coach gives youth of italy a chance and italian coaches bench italians. The Italian coaches of seria A should be ashamed at themselves. What a disgrace they are.
@Italian , the Lazio squad is FULL of Italians , well done to Roma for this.