Nicolò Barella

With the Italy U19 team, Barella took part at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, finishing in second place.

With the Italy U20 he took part at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, finishing in third place.

Barella made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 1 September 2017, in a 3–0 friendly defeat against Spain.

Barella was called up to the senior Italy squad by manager Gian Piero Ventura for the team's 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Albania in October 2017.[12]

Barella made his debut for the Italy senior side on 10 October 2018, under manager Roberto Mancini, in a 1–1 friendly draw against Ukraine in Genoa.[13] On 23 March 2019, Barella scored his first goal for Italy in a 2–0 home win over Finland in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.[14]

He took part with the U21 side in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[15]

Barella is considered a promising and highly talented young midfielder in the European sports media.[16] He was named the best young Italian player born in 1997 for two consecutive years between 2012 and 2013.[17][18] Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki described him as an intelligent, promising, and composed midfielder, despite his young age, with a wide range of skills. She also commented that Barella "...can dribble through a defence, score volleys and start counter-attacks. He knows how to find the right passes and is box-to-box. Most importantly he can win back possession quickly and recover the ball." Barella's performances have also been praised by Italian former footballers Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Del Piero.[16] The Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport has compared him to Steven Gerrard, describing him as a player with good technique, vision, stamina, and physical strength, despite his relatively short stature, as well as an ability to win balls, which enables him to break down possession and subsequently start quick attacking plays. A versatile player, he is capable of playing anywhere in midfield, and has even been used as an attacking midfielder or as a defensive midfielder, but his favoured role is as a right-sided, offensive-minded central midfielder, known as a "mezzala" in Italy. Known for his eye for goal, he possesses a good shot from outside the area, and is known for his ability to make late attacking runs from behind into the penalty area. He is also an accurate set piece and penalty taker. He is known for his strong character, leadership qualities, competitive spirit, and winning mentality, but has also drawn criticism at times in the press for protesting or arguing excessively with officials during matches.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]

• Profile at LegaSerieA (in Italian)
• Profile at FIGC (in Italian)