Italy hold advantage over Nigeria in race for Reggiana's dual national centre-back Alessandro Marcandalli

The Italian Football Federation are ahead of their Nigerian counterparts in the race for the services of Reggiana's dual national centre-back Alessandro Marcandalli, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

Born in Bergamo, Marcandalli qualifies to play international football for Nigeria apart from Italy. 

The Italian Football Federation took the first step to secure his international future by naming him on the Italy U20 roster for the November internationals against England and Portugal. 

While he was a non-playing substitute against the Young Lions on November 16, Marcandalli played his first game for Italy youth team in a 2-1 win versus Portugal two days ago. 

At club level, Marcandalli is learning from one of the best central defenders in history, Alessandro Nesta, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006.

The 21-year-old has established himself as a first team regular under the AC Milan Hall of Famer, making twelve starts from a possible thirteen in the Serie B and has played a further three games in the Coppa Italia, all of which he started,

AC Milan are among the top-flight clubs monitoring the progress of the Italian-Nigerian defender ahead of a possible move from his parent club Genoa. 

The fast and athletic defender has cited Real Madrid star Antonio Rüdiger as his role model, according to Gianluca di Marzio.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: Instagram.com 

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