According to Il Corriere dello Sport, Nicolò Zaniolo and José Mourinho had an argument on Monday and the Italian starlet is unhappy with his role at Roma.
The 22-year-old has scored one goal in 15 appearances across all competitions this season and was omitted from Roma’s starting XI in the last game against Venezia two weeks ago.
According to Il Corriere dello Sport, the 22-year-old had an argument with Mourinho on Monday. However, Zaniolo’s commitment didn’t change during the following days, not giving Mourinho any cause for concern.
Mourinho is an admirer of Zaniolo, but the Italian is reportedly unhappy with his role.
The Special One deployed Zaniolo as a left-winger at the beginning of the season. A position that Zaniolo doesn’t feel comfortable with as he prefers to play in the middle where he doesn’t have many defensive duties.
To make things worse, the coach has recently changed his tactics, swapping from a 4-2-3-1 system to a 3-4-1-2 where there is no space for the 22-year-old and where Lorenzo Pellegrini is the designated attacking midfielder.
The Italy international is recovering from an injury and Zaniolo could be relegated to the bench against Genoa on Sunday, should Pellegrini be eligible to play.
Il Corriere dello Sport adds that the relationship between Zaniolo and Mourinho hasn’t collapsed, but something has changed since the beginning of the season. Time will tell if the Special One and the 22-year-old will find the right balance.
#Zaniolo, diverbio con #Mourinho: c'è ancora posto per lui nella Roma?https://t.co/Skb5Exq5Yg
— Corriere dello Sport (@CorSport) November 20, 2021