Former Italy U21 coach Gigi di Biagio has revealed Manchester City's interest in Nicolo Barella.

The Italy midfielder has emerged as among the best players in the world.

Di Biagio told TVPlay: "Barella is one of those I raised, he was 18 years old when he was with me in the Under 21s and they called from City for information.

"What was he like? Today it's easy to say, at that moment I said 'get him immediately'. When a team asks you how he is as a person it means that on a technical level they know him.

"So I took the liberty of telling them to get him immediately because he has incredible margins for improvement.

"Then he took another path, better for Inter."