Nicolò Barella
It should come as no surprise that Chelsea have been keeping close tabs on Barella. Gianfranco Zola, serving as Maurizio Sarri’s assistant manager in West London, was the third Sardinian ever to represent the Italian national team. In October, Barella became the seventh.
♂️ He's about to sign for #Chelsea but who is Nicolo Barella?
Essential reading for Blues fans from @Adz77 https://t.co/VZDSyZhzDF
— Unibet (@unibet) January 8, 2019
The 21-year-old Cagliari midfielder played so well in Italy’s friendly against Ukraine that Roberto Mancini picked him again for the Nations League clash with Poland four days later: a game that had effectively become a relegation playoff. Barella once again excelled: his forceful tackling and intelligent positioning allowing the manager to get away with his gamble of deploying two playmakers – Marco Verratti and Jorginho – together in the same three-man midfield.
Zola has worked with Barella before, giving him his senior debut at Cagliari in a Coppa Italia game four years ago. But Chelsea, like any other potential Premier League suitors, will face fierce competition for his signature from within Italy. Napoli and Inter have both been strongly linked with Barella, whom Radja Nainggolan recently likened to “a young me” on the pitch.
Krzysztof Piatek
Cristiano Ronaldo has finally overtaken him at the top of the scoring charts, but Piatek’s return of 13 goals in the first half of his first-ever Serie A season is not to be sniffed at. In fact, it’s more than the rest of his Genoa team-mates have managed between them. Oh, and the 23-year-old has hit six more in two Coppa Italia matches as well.
Ruthlessly efficient inside the penalty area, he is a striker who relies on his movement and sense of timing more than speed, power or footwork. He names Pippo Inzaghi as one of his idols, and his goals this season have reminded viewers at times of the former Milan striker: stepping away from defenders at just the right moment to make space, take a pass and dispatch it past the keeper with one or two touches.
Genoa’s owner, Enrico Preziosi, has insisted that Piatek will not be sold until the summer, but his is a club that relies on player sales to balance the books, so there is usually scope for a deal to be done when the price is right. The price-tag is reported to be set in the region of €60m.
Nikola Milenkovic
At 6ft 4ins tall, Milenkovic looks like a prototypical centre-back. It is a testament to his exceptional athleticism, as well as his comfort with the ball at his feet, that he has instead carved out a starting role for Fiorentina on the right of defence. Stefano Pioli was looked upon as a madman when he first tried the Serbian at full-back for the Viola last season, but performances since have justified the manager’s move.
The expectation is still that Milenkovic will move inside in the long run. He started all three games at centre-back for Serbia at the World Cup, before celebrating his 21st birthday in October. The national team manager, Mladen Krstajic added his voice to the chorus who have likened Milenkovic to the former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic.
Those comparisons are only likely to get louder if United are able to make good on their interest in signing the player. Fiorentina are said to be holding out for a fee close to €50m, but they are also keen to delay any transfer until the summer. Manchester City have also been linked with a move.
Rogerio
Owned by Juventus, but playing on loan for the second consecutive season at Sassuolo, Rogério has established himself in this campaign as a fixed starter on the left of a back four. Although left-footed, and blessed with all the pace he could need to get up and down the flank, a lack of defensive discipline had often seen him deployed further up the pitch.
Born in Brazil, Rogério joined the Juventus youth team as a teenager and had been billed as the heir to Alex Sandro. As recently as September, the 20-year-old’s agent gave an interview insisting that he was keen to return to the Bianconeri after this season, but increasingly it appears that the club would prefer to cash in.
Chelsea and Wolverhampton Wanderers are each reported to have made enquiries. A fee in the region of €18m has been mooted, representing a healthy profit for Juventus but also leaving plenty of upside for the buyer on a player who remains raw but with heaps of potential.
Amadou Diawara
The only player on this list not enjoying a positive 2018-19 campaign, Diawara has struggled for playing time at Napoli since the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti as manager. It was assumed that the 21-year-old would be first in line to fill the void left by Jorginho, having impressed with his confidence and passing range when deployed as a deep-lying playmaker under Maurizio Sarri last season, but instead Marek Hamsik has taken on a more creative role in a new-look 4-4-2.
English scouts, however, have not forgotten how impressive Diawara was during Napoli’s Champions League defeat away to Manchester City: catching the eye long before he converted a late penalty for the away team. Chelsea and Manchester United had been linked with him before he ever joined the Partenopei from Bologna in 2016, and it was suggested at the time that they might be feeling some regrets over failing to act decisively at the time.
The Premier League club linked most strongly with the player this January is not either of those, but instead Wolverhampton Wanderers. Recent reports have suggested that the player might be keen to stay in Italy, however, with Fiorentina another potential destination.
