Liverpool spy thriving Serie A midfielder who nearly reduced Jose Mourinho to tears

Liverpool are one of four Premier League clubs to have taken a look at rapidly rising Roma midfielder Niccolo Pisilli this season, a report has revealed.

Pisilli earned his senior international debut for Italy earlier this month and it appears he is catching the attention of more than just his national team’s selectors, since his emergence as a regular in the Roma midfield has made him an interesting prospect for various clubs.

Liverpool have been regenerating their midfield over the past few transfer windows and it has now emerged that Pisilli is the latest player on their radar.

An all-action midfielder, Pisilli had three senior appearances to his name before this season began, but came into the Roma side at the start of September and has played in all seven of their games from that point on.

While it was Daniele De Rossi who kickstarted his season and Ivan Juric who is guiding him now, Jose Mourinho was the manager who gave Pisilli his Roma debut, and in his second outing saw the then-teenager score his first goal, prompting the Special One to admit: “I had to run off, or I would burst into tears too!”

According to TBR Football, Liverpool are now aware of Pisilli’s consolidation at senior level and have been keeping an eye on his progress.

However, they would have to convince Roma owner Dan Friedkin – due to take over their Merseyside rivals Everton – to do business with them.

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Pisilli also watched by Premier League trio

Furthermore, the report adds three other Premier League clubs into contention for Pisilli’s signature, claiming that Chelsea, Tottenham and Bournemouth are all keeping tabs on the 20-year-old too.

The Bournemouth link stems from the fact that the Cherries’ president of football operations, Tiago Pinto, worked at Roma until January this year, overseeing, for example, Pisilli penning his first professional contract in late 2022.

What the report fails to mention, while acknowledging that that contract lasts until 2026, is that reports in Italy have indicated just this week that Roma are working on extending Pisilli’s stay at his boyhood club with a new deal.

It remains to be seen if a big bid from the Premier League could interrupt that. As stated, Liverpool are still in the market for a midfielder, most likely a defensive one, and while Pisilli is not someone who can be restricted into one role at the moment, he has a maturity beyond his years to slot into any berth.

Liverpool linked with second Roma star

It’s fair to say that the last two players Liverpool signed from Roma – Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker – have been overwhelming success stories, but they had 83 and 64 appearances respectively for the Serie A side before their Premier League moves; Pisilli still has just 10.

Interestingly, the news follows claims that Alisson’s pathway could be followed by current Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar if the Brazilian himself leaves in 2025, although that link seems questionable given that the Reds have already lined up the arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia next year.

In other Liverpool news, Arne Slot’s side are said to be leading the race to sign a Borussia Dortmund defender, which may be a relief given that sources have told TEAMtalk that a rival suitor has sped up plans to beat them to Bayer Leverkusen centre-back, Jonathan Tah.

IN FOCUS: The inside story of Niccolo Pisilli’s remarkable rise

It has been a turbulent season so far for Roma, who controversially sacked club legend De Rossi after just four games, which led to their CEO stepping down, and have suffered defeats to Empoli and Elfsborg.

Few would have expected at the start of the season that one of their more reliable constants would be Pisilli, but that has been the case.

Pisilli was born in Rome and joined his hometown club’s academy at the age of eight, before making his debut against Inter Milan aged 18 in May 2023.

And Pisilli has continued to be backed in big matches; his first appearance this season was as a starter against Juventus, for example.

He scored his second Roma goal at the end of September against Venezia in a 2-1 win, his well-placed header after a corner in the 83rd minute wrapping up the three points for Juric’s side and earning him the player of the match award.

As a player, Pisilli has impressed with his range of attributes. A post on official Serie A social media accounts recently highlighted his lung-busting effort to prevent a counter-attack in Roma’s draw with Monza just before the international break.

Ma il recupero di Niccolò Pisilli? 🫁🥵 pic.twitter.com/5uoA823gLc

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA) October 17, 2024

While only time will tell how good he becomes, Pisilli has stood out to a degree that he has amassed more minutes in Serie A than more senior midfielders like Leandro Paredes and Enzo Le Fee this season, and he has the same number of appearances and starts in the league as one-time Liverpool target Manu Kone.

And plenty of observers have been singing Pisilli’s praises. For example, when De Rossi took charge of Roma in Mourinho’s place back in January and was asked at his first press conference who he had been surprised by, he said: “I must admit I didn’t know Pisilli very well but he’s a very good player – better than I thought. He’s still a kid but I’ve been impressed by him. I admit I didn’t know him and seeing him in action surprised me.”

And ahead of the international fixtures in which Pisilli made his senior Italy debut, national team coach Luciano Spalletti justified his inclusion by stating: “Pisilli, looking at him, seems like a really good midfielder, he can do both phases and he’s someone who’s worked hard to be where he is now. De Rossi told me that in training he’s someone who always scores goals, he’s good at finishing. He has pace, he has energy. He’s someone who can do a bit of everything, he can be part of our new identity.”

And suitors like Liverpool should have plenty more chances to catch Pisilli in action over the coming months, since his current club coach Juric has said this week: “You fall in love easily. He’s young, he must grow, and he comes from an intellectual family. He’s also a little intellectual. He is calm and serene. He thinks and has a talent that I had never seen in young players like him. He has a clear perception of things from the first touch. If he continues like this, working hard without being overconfident, he’ll have a great career.”