Top emerging talents in Serie A

Italian Seria A is slowly regaining its status in European football and turning out to be the most competitive league this season with teams like Juventus, Napoli, Inter Milan, and, AS Roma pushing for the title.

Teams like AC Milan, Fiorentina and Atalanta are also showing big ambitions and should be competing for the Scudetto in coming seasons.

One important reason for this resurgence of Italian clubs has been the belief they have shown in their youngsters and luckily that faith has paid off.

Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Mauro Icardi, Marco Verratti, Philippe Coutinho, Miralem Pjanic, Mateo Kovacic, Lorenzo Insigne, Andrea Belotti and Elseid Hysaj are some famous young Seria A products of the recent past.

So, let's have a look at some other Serie A youngsters coming through the ranks, who will have the world under their feet in the coming years.

#10 Federico Chiesa (AGE 20) - Fiorentina

Federico Chiesa is primarily a winger, but can also play as a forward or an attacking midfielder.He came through Fiorentina's youth academy and this is his second season in Seria A.

He has scored 4 goals and provided 2 assists so far this season, as he replaced Federico Bernardeschi in the Fiorentina squad. His primary attributes are speed and dribbling with some fantastic technical know-how.He represents Italy U 21 side at the International level.

The son of a former Azzurri striker, Enrico Chiesa, he is already attracting interest from some big European clubs, with the likes of Napoli, Chelsea and Tottenham, all said to be interested in his services.

#9 Rodrigo Bentancur (AGE 20) - Juventus

Bentancur has the world at his feet and can become as good as Pjanic

Bentancur officially joined Juventus from Argentinian club Boca Juniors in 2017 for € 9.5 million.

He is a defensive midfielder but can play anywhere in midfield. He caught the eye with his performance at the Camp Nou against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League group stage match, which Juventus eventually lost 3-0.

He has already played in 10 games for Juventus and is already competing with the likes of Claudio Marchisio and Sami Khedira for the starting spot.

He has almost all the qualities to become a world-class midfielder and will further improve under the influence of his club teammate Miralem Pjanic.

#8 Lorenzo Pellegrini (AGE 21) - AS Roma

Pellegrini (right) is one of the emerging youngsters in an exciting AS Roma team

Pellegrini is a young central midfielder who joined AS Roma in 2017 from Sassuolo.

He is an academy graduate of Roma, having joined the club in 2007 and made his senior debut in 2015, before joining Sassuolo later that year.

He has scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists in his first 14 games played for Roma this season. He is very versatile and can play in any midfield position, given his strong technical and creative instincts.

He is learning a lot from teammates Daniele de Rossi and Radja Nainggolan and is on his way to becoming a top midfielder.

He is said to have a release clause of €24 million and is already attracting some of the biggest Premier League clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City.

#7 Patrik Schick (AGE 21) - AS Roma

Schick (in red) is being tipped as a left-footed Gabriel Batistuta

Patrik Schick plays as a winger/striker for AS Roma, who signed him at the start of this season from Sampdoria on a loan deal with an obligation to buy for €25m. He has been described as the new Paulo Dybala as he has some fascinating dribbling and shooting skills.

He scored 11 goals last season but hasn't played much this season due to various injuries.

He has represented the Czech Republic on the international level and played for them in different age groups before getting a call to play for the senior team in 2016.

He has shown a lot of promise till now, therefore big things are expected of him.

#6 Frank Kessie (AGE 21) - AC Milan

Kessie has been one of the few shining lights for the Black & Red

Frank Kessie has been one of the top performers in what has been a very disappointing season for AC Milan and is considered the backbone of their midfield in spite of his age.

He is a no-nonsense, strong central midfielder who can also score some goals. He scored 6 goals for Atalanta last season and currently has 2 goals for Milan, which is quite remarkable considering his position.

He is already drawing comparisons to ex- AC Milan star Gennaro Gattuso (the current Milan manager) and could improve further under his guidance.

#5 Amadou Diawara (AGE 20) - Napoli

Diawara is already being compared to Patrick Vieira due to his playing style

Another one of the many emerging central midfielders from Seria A, Diawara is probably one of the best. He is an important member of a Napoli midfield which is widely considered to be the best in Seria A.

Last season, he was preferred over Jorginho in certain important matches and has shown a lot of maturity in his game despite his young age.

He caught the eye with his performance against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie last season. He performed exceptionally well in Serie A games this season and has been justifying coach Maurizio Sarri's confidence in him.

There are still elements to his game that need improvement but this is understandable given his age. He is in the right club and will only get better.

#4 Patrick Cutrone (AGE 20) - AC Milan

Cutrone has pushed big signing Andre Silva to the bench due to his form

Cutrone is a product of Milan's youth academy and plays as a centre-forward. This is his first season in Serie A and he is surpassing all expectations with his performances so far.

He has already scored 9 goals in all competitions this season and entered Milanese folklore when he scored the winner against city rivals Inter in extra time in a Coppa Italia quarter-final, to take the Rossoneri into the semis.

He has performed exceptionally well in the Europa League group stages for Milan where he scored 5 goals. He has also represented Italy in all the different age groups, making a combined total of 57 appearances and scoring 27 goals.

#3 Pietro Pellegri (AGE 16) - Genoa

Pellegri (right) is already been tipped as a future starter for the Azzurri

Pietro Pellegri plays as a forward for Genoa and Italy U-19 national team and caught the eye when he made his Genoa debut at the age of 15, becoming the joint youngest player to appear in Seria A.

He also became the first player born in the 21st century to score a goal in Serie A. So far, he has scored 3 league goals for Genoa in 10 outings so far and is expected to become a regular member of their starting eleven in the near future.

Juventus and Manchester United are showing a lot of interest in him and his price tag is believed to be somewhere close to €35 million.

#2 Milan Skriniar (AGE 22) - Inter Milan

The young Slovak has been one of the most impressive centre-backs in Serie A this season

Skriniar is arguably the best centre-back in Serie A, forming a formidable pairing along with his senior partner Miranda. Inter Milan signed the young defender for €25 million from Sampdoria at the start of this season, which is looking to be the bargain of the season considering his performances.

A tall, muscular, no-nonsense defender, with a good passing range, he has also scored 3 goals this season.

Skriniar was named Slovakia's best U-21 player for 2016, receiving the Peter Dubovsky award and is now a crucial member of the senior team.

Skriniar is already attracting a lot of interest from the biggest European clubs like FC Barcelona and Manchester City, but it will be hard to convince Inter to sell him, as they themselves are trying to go back to being one of the best clubs in Europe.

#1 Gianluigi Donnarumma (AGE 18) - AC MILAN

Donnarumma has been the biggest youngster to emerge from Italy in recent years

"Gigio" plays as a goalkeeper for AC Milan and made his debut for them at the age of 16.

Already being viewed as the long-term replacement for Gianluigi Buffon at the national level, he has already played 88 games for Milan and is considered one of the hottest goalkeeping prospects in the world.

He has also become the youngest goalkeeper ever to represent Italy at the senior level.

He is already being linked to some of the biggest European Clubs like Real Madrid, Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Manchester United, and AC Milan will find it really hard to convince him to stay with them in the future if the team does not become contenders once again.