8 of Serie A's Most Impressive Teenagers This Season

Once seen by many as Europe's equivalent of a footballing retirement home, Italy's Serie A is now arguably the continent's most exciting league and a hotbed of young talent. 

A combination of factors has led to Serie A becoming an environment conducive to player development once more.

Financial restraints stemming from tougher controls and the global economic downturn have meant that most clubs had to tighten their belts. Prospective talent is cheap, and can often be developed in-house at minimal outlay. 

There's also been an attitude shift, and a changing of the guard in the coaching ranks. Today's Italian managers are happier to trust in youth and nurture raw talent. It's a world away from a few years ago, when a player was still considered a "prospect" in his mid-20s. 

Most of the peninsula's top-flight sides now boast at least one or two teenage prospects, but who have impressed most* this season? Read on to find out.

*For the purpose of this article, players who were teenagers at the start of the 2012-13 season were considered. 

Mattia Perin—Italy's Future No. 1?

On the face of it, a goalkeeper from the league's bottom side doesn't seem an obvious choice for this list.

Pescara have conceded 54 and counting this season, and Mattia Perin has been between the sticks for most of them. So why is the young man from south of Rome so highly rated?

Well, for a start, it's not every keeper that becomes a Serie A starter at the age of 19, however humble the club. Perin is on loan at Pescara from Genoa, with a view to getting some much-needed experience. And what better way to learn his trade than behind the leakiest defence in Italy?

Perin has earned a call-up to the senior Italy squad and the backing of no less an expert on the matter than Gianluigi Buffon. The World Cup winner made his own debut for Parma back in 1995 at the tender age of 17, so he knows only too well the preciousness of early exposure to the highest level of football. 

After Pescara's 6-1 mauling at the hands of Juventus, Buffon apparently told Perin to stay carefree, to forget the goals and move on. And that's exactly what he seems to do.

More experienced keepers are visibly shaken after conceding, but the 20-year-old is always quick to pick the ball up and play on. And January's clash away at Fiorentina—when his side won thanks in no small part to his heroics in goal—showed what he's capable of. We expect great things. 

Mauro Icardi: The Teen Who Sank Juventus

Mauro Icardi has been well-known to Europe's talent scouts from an early age. His list of admirers reads like a who's who of elite football, but he moved to Barcelona at age 15. With competition for a place so fierce at the Camp Nou, the Argentinean was loaned to Sampdoria in 2011, where he impressed to the extent that the Genoa side opted to buy him outright. 

And who could blame them? In Serie B, he scored within 10 minutes of making his debut—netting a goal that won his team the match and helped secure valuable points towards their promotion push.

He was also the Italian Primavera youth tournament's top scorer, before joining the big time when Samp moved back to Serie A this season. 

It was in Turin, however, that Icardi really made his name. With his side down to 10 men and a goal behind Juve, who in nine home games had conceded just five goals, the 19-year-old forward scored not once, but twice.

And to think the club nearly let him miss the game so he could play for Argentina's Under 20s ...

Paul Pogba: One of Europe's Best Summer Signings

Credit is due to any player who can break into a midfield containing the likes of Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo and Claudio Marchisio. But that's just what Paul Pogba's done at Juventus, a feat made more impressive by the fact that he's still just 19.

The Frenchman struggled to earn a place at Manchester United and left for Turin because of it, but since arriving in the summer, Antonio Conte has shown tremendous faith in the youngster—and has been repaid in spades. 

A regular starter for the Bianconeri, Pogba has already chipped in with some vital goals and impressed with his rounded ability and obvious potential. 

Mattia De Sciglio: 'One Born Every 20 Years'

Mattia De Sciglio is one of Europe's most exciting young full-backs, and the Milan native is now a regular for his hometown club AC Milan. 

“Someone like this is born once every 20 years," said the former Milan and Lazio left-back Giuseppe Pancaro before the two sides met recently. "“De Sciglio is destined for greatness. He is an extraordinary player."

Unusually for a now-turned 20-year-old, De Sciglio is a remarkably rounded player. He's comfortable defending and going forward, is extremely aware and has even been used on both flanks and in the centre, hinting at a great versatility. 

Alessio Romagnoli Is a Part of Roma's Future

Against Genoa at the Stadio Olimpico, 18-year-old Alessio Romagnoli leapt above the visitors' defence to skilfully head Francesco Totti's perfectly weighted corner into the goal, leaving the experienced keeper Sebastien Frey helpless.

For a boy from just outside Rome, who has been learning his trade in the youth ranks of his beloved Giallorossi, it was a full debut that you couldn't have scripted better. 

Romagnoli was a surprise call-up to the senior squad under Zdenek Zeman, and new manager Aurelio Andreazzoli has kept faith with the teenager. A confident, energetic and talented young defender, he should be a mainstay of Roma's defence for a long time. 

Marquinhos—Another Exciting Youngster in the Capital

Marcos Aoas Correa has been one of the most impressive defenders in Serie A this season. Since moving to Roma from Corinthians, he's been a regular for the Giallorossi, often relegating experienced centre-back Nicolas Burdisso to the bench. 

He's been linked to Manchester United, Manchester City and Barcelona, and he has even been talked about as an obvious choice at the back for Brazil at the 2014 World Cup.

All this, and he's just 18. Watch this space. 

M'Baye Niang: Seriously Committed, Seriously Talented

Young, powerful, skilful and hard-working. What more do you want? M'Baye Niang is one of a host of young players at AC Milan, and with Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Shaarawy, must surely make up Europe's most exciting attacking trident in terms of sheer potential. 

Niang also seems to be an extremely grounded character, focused on football. That's not something that could always be said about the mercurially-talented but problematic Brazilian Robinho, who has now found himself behind the Frenchman in Milan's pecking order. 

Speaking to the press recently, Niang mused:

"

Can I become the best in the world? I can make it. A club like Milan is the ideal place to grow because of the many champions you can learn from. Serie A is a tough league, physically and tactically. 

But In order to get my breakthrough, I need to lead a serious private life. I need to rest and train well. It is not like in France—in Italy, there is real professionalism.

"

Music to his coach's ears. 

Stephan El Shaarawy Is a Player with Limitless Potential

Second in the scoring charts behind the incredible Edinson Cavani and a regular set-up man for his teammates, Stephan El Shaarawy is the sensation of the season in Italy. 

Doom and gloom surrounded AC Milan in the summer following the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and there was no clear replacement in the squad for the Swede in terms of raw ability, goals or charismatic displays. 

El Shaarawy is a very different player to Zlatan, but has somehow managed to fill the striker's sizable boots and become a constant threat for the Rossoneri—and a constant treat for their fans.

Now playing up front in Milan with his pal from the Italian national side Mario Balotelli, il Faraone looks certain to be among the first names on the team sheet for club and country for years to come.