Irish defender starts training with the Inter Milan first team

Republic of Ireland underage defender Ryan Nolan has been pictured training with the Inter Milan first team during the Nerazzurri's pre-season. 

The 19-year-old centre-back joined Inter Milan on a three-year deal from Torre Pacheco in Spain in 2015. The Clare native moved to Murica from Shannon when he was eight-years-old and played underage football in Spain until he was 16 when he was brought to Inter by Pierluigi Casiraghi, who also brought the likes of Mario Balotelli and Philippe Coutinho to the San Siro. https://twitter.com/CMacByrne/status/1016743257076912130 Nolan said he's enjoying life in Milan and claimed he moved to Inter in a bid to improve defensively as a footballer where he claims he's learning a lot about tactics and how to defend. "Coming to Italy was very important to me because I knew I had to improve defensively, as that's my position. In Italy, you learn a lot about tactics and defending," he said in a recent interview with the club's YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/ra8r0QsEJXo Stefano Vecchi, head coach of the U19s, describes him as "a centre-half with good physical attributes. "Ryan Nolan is a centre-back with good physical attributes. He's good in the air and his determination is certainly his main strength. He stays very switched on and he's determined and aggressive - those are his strengths. He's made real progress because he's so keen to improve."