Five rounds do not settle a Serie A season, but they can reveal which young players are beginning to alter its rhythm. During the long break, an all-Italian selection of newcomers has emerged from the opening weeks: players making their first serious impact in the senior game, some already in Roberto Mancini’s thoughts and others moving steadily towards Coverciano.
A young Italian XI after five rounds
The early-season side takes the shape of an adventurous 3-4-3, built around players who have arrived from academies, Serie C, Serie B and, in a few cases, unexpectedly direct routes into the top flight.
- Goalkeeper: Lorenzo Palmisani
- Defenders: Emanuele Lulli, Eddy Koudio, Simone Cinquegrano
- Midfielders: Niccolò Fortini, Mathis Mout, Alessandro Romano, Alessio Cacciamani
- Forwards: Simone Lontani, Antonio Raimondo, Alpha Cisse
The group is united less by a common tactical school than by the speed of their rise. Some had been expected to make the step; others were not obvious academy stars at all. The first five matchdays have given their clubs reasons to keep trusting them.
From the lower divisions to the Serie A stage
Palmisani’s saves and Lulli’s Roman opportunity
Palmisani has become one of the most striking early stories. The Alatri-born goalkeeper began as a midfielder before developing between Lucchese in Serie C and Frosinone in Serie B. Now an Italy Under-21 player, he has attracted Juventus interest while producing a major display against Como, frustrating Nico Paz and his team-mates with a succession of saves.
His rise has also travelled quickly through social media, where clips of his interventions have spread widely. Away from the pitch, he is known to perform card tricks, while his profile carries a reference to Romans 8:10 and the phrase “walking on a dream”. His present form gives that description some weight.
Lulli’s route has required rather more patience. He spent time on the bench in Roma’s youth ranks rather than following the path of an immediate teenage sensation. A breakthrough at Under-18 level led to confirmation in the Primavera, then to Gian Piero Gasperini’s first-team training camp. He has since made his first Serie A start and followed it with three more from the opening whistle.
That is no small achievement on a right side where he is competing with Nahuel Molina, a 2022 World Cup winner and recent World Cup finalist. Lulli, a lifelong Roman with Roma’s yellow and red close to him, has focused on football rather than the noise surrounding it. Gasperini clearly values what he has seen.
Koudio and Cinquegrano seize their moment
Koudio made a difficult introduction to senior football at San Siro against Inter, where he was given the task of dealing with Lautaro Martinez. His debut rating was mixed, but the performance did not define him. Further starts for Monza have followed, and his response has been strong enough to earn a Mancini call-up.
Born in Prato to an Ivorian family, Koudio has chosen Italy. Fiorentina allowed him to leave on loan in the summer, and his objective is clear: establish himself at Monza, then return to Florence as a more complete player. He has a powerful physical frame, an appetite for fast food and no apparent interest in cultivating a public social-media presence.
Cinquegrano’s story is among the more unusual. Only a few years ago he was a forward; he was moved to full-back and found a new career. Last season he was preparing for trips to face Giana Erminio and Lumezzane, while this year Roma and Juventus have been among his opponents.
Alberto Aquilani has kept faith with him on the right. Cinquegrano may not be the most decorative full-back in the division, but he has been dependable and effective. His progress also carries a personal meaning: he promised his father that he would work hard to fulfil his football dream, and repeated those words when his father died. His social-media profile reflects a young player balancing football with life beyond it, including a relationship with Katia and memories of scoring for Sassuolo against Roma in a youth title final.
Midfielders finding a place in the championship
Fortini has made a positive impression at Torino after his development at Fiorentina and a valuable Serie B spell with Juve Stabia. Naturally right-footed, he can operate on either flank, higher or deeper. He wears number 29 because of a childhood admiration for Kai Havertz during the German’s Chelsea years.
- Fortini enjoys PlayStation, whether football or basketball games.
- His music choices include Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes.
- He admits to having superstitions that can irritate even him.
- His online interests range from tennis and billiards to Spider-Man, Federer, beach trips and Wimbledon.
Mout has made an equally immediate start under Ivan Juric, appearing in all five league matches. The left-footed Monza midfielder is valued for his technique and intelligence, even if there is still physical development to come. Like Cinquegrano, he was once an attacker before a change of role reshaped his future in Monza’s academy.
He has Italian citizenship through his father and French citizenship through his mother, and his social profile identifies Milan as home and Monza as his club. Football dominates his posts, although there have also been trips abroad, including New York.
Alessandro Romano has brought another international dimension to the Italian picture. Former Switzerland midfielder Valon Behrami has criticised Switzerland for letting him choose the Azzurri, and Romano could be close to a senior opportunity, potentially even against Belgium alongside Nicolo Barella and Sandro Tonali.
Romano gained wider attention after Cagliari released a video showing his command of five languages — Swiss German, Italian, English, German and French — with Sardinian added for good measure. More importantly, he announced himself to the wider public with the winning goal in Parma-Cagliari. His path through Roma’s youth system and Spezia’s Serie B side had already convinced those who followed his development closely. He signs his name online as Alessandro Gianni Romano and keeps his public profile almost entirely about football.
Cacciamani has passed the Serie A examination with unusual authority for a player born in 2007. After an excellent Serie B campaign at Juve Stabia, he has played in all five matches under Ignazio Abate. He combines dribbling, strength, versatility and a willingness to take responsibility in decisive areas of the pitch.
The Jesi-born player, from the same city as Mancini, had already made his Torino debut in 2025 at the age of 17 years and 316 days. His online presence is similarly focused on the game, from his contract-renewal photograph with Urbano Cairo to his senior debut, although formalwear also makes an occasional appearance.
Goals, ambition and the next chapter
Lontani has moved from a season split between Milan Primavera and Milan Futuro to becoming a proper first-team starter at Parma. He has scored three times so far, twice in the cup and once in the league, enough to make his father Eros’s workplace — Bagno Paradiso 25 in Gatteo Mare — a point of interest for Parma supporters.
His progression has been rapid: first Cesena, then Milan, now Parma. He left Milan partly because Francesco Camarda blocked his route, but Fabio Cuesta has given him belief and responsibility. A holiday greeting recorded for Parma fans now looks like the prelude to a much bigger year.
Raimondo has already reached four Serie A goals, including strikes that decided matches against Fiorentina and Venezia. His standards remain severe. Last June, reflecting on an 11-goal Serie B season, he said: “I was pleased, but I had set myself a target of 15 and did not get there.”
He made his Serie A debut under Sinisa Mihajlovic, studied Edinson Cavani and admires Cristiano Ronaldo. In his spare time he works on visual training, believing it assists his reading of situations on the pitch. His career has already included Bologna, Ternana, Venezia, Salernitana and the national team; Frosinone is the latest chapter. The word “RESILIENCE”, accompanied by a four-leaf clover, stands prominently on his profile.
Cisse has become especially popular among Milan supporters. Still only 19, the attacking midfielder has scored twice in Turin, once against Torino and once against Juventus, while playing with the freedom of someone who has not been weighed down by the occasion.
His first Serie A goal at the Olimpico Grande Torino came without his family in the stands because they were all at work. That circumstance has shaped his ambition. “I dream of buying them a new home,” he said. “I hope I can soon earn enough to let them stop working.”
His following has climbed to 168,000 since becoming a permanent Milan player. Fashion, friends, bowling, his mother Habibatou, the gym and water sports all appear alongside the football. Yet his earliest post, dated 25 July 2025 from his Verona days, said it all: “I’m coming.” Five matchdays into this Serie A season, he has arrived.
