AS Roma chief Monchi is pleased with the progress of Nicolo Zaniolo.

The youngster arrived in the deal that took Radja Nainggolan to Inter Milan.

Monchi said, “I didn't expect him to do so well right from the start, and credit belongs to Di Francesco. Inter didn't want to include him in the negotiations for Nainggolan.

“(Inter director Piero) Ausilio had put up a wall, but they wanted Radja and eventually gave up [Zaniolo]. I'm sorry if he's having problems in Milan, but we intended to sell him, Zaniolo aside.

“Radja is a good player, but the problem is managing him. At the start we wanted to loan out Zaniolo as we had lots of midfielders in the squad.

“However, once Strootman left we realised it was the perfect time to keep him. Zaniolo is the our future and won't be sold. He'll have a long and important career with this club.

“I understood that it was more appropriate to sign Italian players, so Roma will be very Italian in the future."