First thing that comes to mind when I think about this past Serie A season is Como. Where did that performance come from? From Nico Paz to Jesus Rodriguez, youth was as abundant in Como as style. Granted style goes with the territory, but I fell in love with Como first for the youth, and second for the style. Como thrived because they dominated the half space. Balls played into feet, Paz and company thrived at receiving on the half turn and wanting to take defenders on. And God how they attacked. But one look at the team sheet showed me something alarming. Very sparse locally grown talent.

And that got me thinking, who in Italy is actually the best at promoting teenagers into their first team? If you’re an up and coming Italian footballer, where do you get your shot? 

A cursory glance at the data, which counts all youth debuts, imported or homegrown, says Roma promoted 9 teenage debuts in 2025. Como debuted 23 teenagers over their short, two-season stint at the top level, but most if not all of them were imported. That counts for something, but the lack of academy promotions —from what I see — is glaring. Pescara stands out, even though it isn’t even in the top division anymore. They have almost 36 debuts per season. And Pescara are perhaps best known for putting young Marco Verratti, Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne in their Serie B-winning side in 2011-12. Was that just magic, or is Pescara onto something?

Juventus, Lazio and Inter are disappointing, frankly, with 10.3, 9.8 and 11.5 debut rates, respectively. 

That leaves us with Parma. They’ve been at the top enough to matter materially to this story, and promoted a staggering near-20 debuts per season across eight years at the top level.