De Rossi on Zaniolo: ‘Sometimes, we had to beat him up’ at Roma

Genoa coach Daniele De Rossi praises his former Roma teammate Nicolò Zaniolo: ‘He’s a good guy and an excellent player; sometimes we had to beat him up in training because he was too strong.’

De Rossi’s Genoa will visit Zaniolo’s Udinese on Monday, and the Grifone’s boss previewed the game at a press conference on Saturday.

Zaniolo and De Rossi played together at Roma, and the Udinese striker has had a convincing start to the season in 2025-26 with four goals in 11 Serie A games.

“I think he made the right choice. He’s gone to a sort of happy island, where you work with serious people and there’s space for nothing else than football,” De Rossi said, via TMW.

“I’m glad he’s back at his physical levels. Physically, he’s a beast, an animal like Norton-Cuffy. I met him when he was a kid, then we kind of lost track of each other, even if we are still in touch. He has incredible potential, he’s such a nice and humble guy, sometimes we had to beat him up in training because he was too strong.

“I have a great memory of Nicolò, careers take endless pathways and segments, and sometimes you lose pace a bit,” continued the Genoa boss.

“Perhaps it happened to him, too; he was expected to have a different career. He was unlucky with his knees, but he started running again. I wish him to achieve what he was expected to when he arrived at Roma, because he’s a good guy and an excellent player.”