Gianluca Mancini

A Tuscan-born defender who came through the Fiorentina academy before finding his way to Atalanta under Gian Piero Gasperini — one of football's great developer of defenders — Gianluca Mancini has been at Roma since 2019 and has become one of the senior voices in the squad. He stands 1.90m and brings an old-school Italian centre-back's aggression alongside the technical demands of modern defending.

Mancini is a leader by nature: loud, intense, and fully committed. His reading of the game and organisational ability make him invaluable in Roma's defensive structure. He can play in a four or a three, and has even been used as a holding midfielder in emergencies, which speaks to his positional intelligence.

He has 20 caps for the Italian national team and wears his heart on his sleeve for Roma. When things get difficult, Mancini is one of the players you want in your corner.