For as long as I’ve supported Roma—and that’s been the better part of three decades—the youth academy has been a source of equal parts pride and frustration. Pride because Trigoria consistently produces talented youngsters. Frustration because so many of them end up fulfilling that talent elsewhere. De Rossi was the exception that proved the rule. Totti was a once-in-a-lifetime anomaly. For every academy graduate who became a Roma legend, a dozen were sold, loaned, or released before they had a proper chance.

This season feels different. Not dramatically, not revolutionarily, but enough that the academy’s contribution to the first team is noticeable in a way it hasn’t been for several years. Three academy products in particular have stepped up, and their development tells us something about both Roma’s youth system and the first team’s needs.

Nicola Zalewski’s Evolution

Zalewski’s been around the first team since 2021, but this season he’s become a genuinely important player rather than a rotation option. The Polish-Italian wing-back has always had the physical attributes—pace, stamina, directness—but his decision-making and defensive discipline were inconsistent enough to keep him on the periphery.

What’s changed this year is maturity. At 24, Zalewski now reads the game better. He picks his moments to drive forward rather than doing it every time he gets the ball. His crossing has improved—not dramatically, but enough that his deliveries are now a threat rather than a hope. Defensively, he’s more positionally aware, less prone to getting caught upfield.

The contract situation that nearly saw him leave last summer seems to have been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. When a player commits to staying, you often see an immediate performance lift. Zalewski’s had exactly that—playing with confidence and purpose that comes from knowing where you belong.

He’s made 28 appearances this season, more than in any previous campaign. Nine of those have come in matches where the result was uncertain and the contribution was significant. He’s not a world-beater—let’s not get carried away—but he’s a dependable, improving player who bleeds giallorosso. You can’t buy that.

The Pisilli Breakthrough

If Zalewski’s progress is evolution, Nicolo Pisilli’s emergence is more like a breakthrough. The 19-year-old central midfielder went from Primavera squad member to regular first-team contributor in the space of six months. It’s the kind of rapid development that makes academy staff justifiably proud.

Pisilli’s profile is exactly what Roma’s midfield needs—he’s mobile, aggressive in the press, comfortable carrying the ball forward, and brave enough to play vertical passes rather than the safe sideways option. In a midfield that’s lacked energy and dynamism (as I’ve written about plenty this season), Pisilli offers something genuinely different.

His technical ability isn’t flashy. He’s not going to dribble past three players or ping 50-yard diagonal passes. But his passing is clean, his first touch is reliable, and he makes good decisions about when to carry and when to release. At 19, that decision-making is remarkably advanced. Most young midfielders either play too safe or too risky. Pisilli sits in the sweet spot.

The concern—and there’s always a concern with young players getting significant minutes in a season with something to play for—is burnout. Pisilli has started 14 matches since January, which is a lot for a teenager who played Primavera football last season. Managing his workload through the final eight matches will be important. A drop in form now could dent the confidence that’s been building all season.

Volpato’s Return to Form

Cristian Volpato’s story is more complicated. The Australian-Italian attacking midfielder was hyped as the next big thing two years ago, then had a miserable loan spell, returned to Roma with questions about his mentality, and has spent most of this season on the edges. But in the last two months, he’s found minutes and done something with them.

Volpato’s talent was never in doubt. He can play in tight spaces, has genuine creative vision, and can score goals from midfield—a rare combination. The question was always whether he could handle the demands of consistent professional football. The physical intensity, the tactical discipline, the mental resilience required when things aren’t going well.

Recent performances suggest he’s growing into it. His work rate—historically the biggest criticism—has improved visibly. He presses now. Not with Pisilli’s intensity, but enough that coaches trust him not to leave defensive gaps. His creative contributions have been sharp when he’s played, generating more chances per 90 minutes than any Roma midfielder except Dybala.

At 21, Volpato still has plenty of development ahead. Whether that development happens at Roma or elsewhere depends on next season’s plans and the coaching staff’s belief in his trajectory. But right now, he’s adding something to the squad that Roma need—a creative option who can change games from the bench or start when rotation is needed.

What the Academy Needs to Keep Producing

Three contributing academy graduates in a single season isn’t extraordinary by the standards of clubs like Barcelona’s La Masia or Ajax’s Toekomst. But for Roma, which has historically struggled to bridge the gap between youth development and first-team integration, it represents progress.

The Trigoria academy has always produced technically gifted players. What it’s struggled with is producing players ready for the physical and mental demands of Serie A at 18 or 19. Too often, academy products were technically talented but physically or mentally underprepared for the step up. They’d get a few appearances, look out of their depth, and get loaned out to gain experience that often came at clubs with very different playing philosophies.

The current approach—integrating promising youngsters into first-team training earlier, giving them minutes in lower-pressure matches, and being patient with development—seems to be yielding better results. Pisilli didn’t arrive in the first team fully formed. He was integrated gradually, given increasing responsibility as he demonstrated readiness for it. That patience isn’t always available at big clubs where results are demanded immediately, but when it works, the payoff is significant.

Why It Matters for Roma’s Identity

There’s a reason Romanisti get excited about academy graduates in a way that new signings, however talented, don’t quite replicate. It’s about identity. Roma is a club that’s meant to represent the city, and a team with players who grew up in the system, who understand the weight of the shirt, who chose to be here rather than being recruited, carries a different emotional resonance.

Totti embodied this perfectly. De Rossi too. They weren’t just good players who happened to play for Roma—they were Roma. Their careers and the club’s identity were inseparable.

Zalewski, Pisilli, and Volpato aren’t at that level and may never be. But their presence in the squad connects the team to its roots in a way that matters to supporters. When Pisilli celebrates a goal in the Curva Sud end, there’s an added joy that doesn’t come when a €30 million signing does the same thing. It’s family, not business.

The hope is that this season’s contributions aren’t a blip but the beginning of a sustained pipeline. Roma’s academy has the facilities, the coaching staff, and the talent. What it needs is consistent opportunity and organisational patience. If this season demonstrates that academy products can compete at Serie A level when given the chance, future coaches and sporting directors will be more willing to provide those chances.

That’s the real legacy of Pisilli’s breakout season and Zalewski’s maturation. Not just what they contribute now, but the door they open for the next generation of Trigoria graduates. Roma’s academy has been promising for years. This season, it’s delivering.