Mourinho happy Volpato rejects Australia World Cup call up

The 18-year-old

is eligible to represent Italy and also Australia at the international level. Australia offered him a spot in their

squad but he rejected their offer and Jose Mourinho said he made the right decision.

"I think it is a personal decision and the club has not been involved. As a coach, for example, I would refuse to call up a player, even a young one, in a situation like that,"

Mourinho said in a press conference.

"What I understand is that he is at the beginning of his career and that he's growing with Roma by getting more minutes in consecutive matches.

"It's not like last year where he played just one game against Verona and then he didn't play again, I think he has now played four games in a row.

"He is in a development phase where I think he has to focus on building his future and not on certain decisions where maybe someone else wants to accelerate a process that should not be sped up."

Volpato who has provided two assists this season for

explained on Wednesday why he decided to take more time before choosing his international team.

"I've seen lots of speculation about decisions I have supposedly taken at international level: the truth is I am just at the start of my professional career and I am totally focused on continuing that process at Roma,"

he posted on Instagram.

"Making any sort of rushed decision about my international future at this early stage risks being extremely premature.

"There will be plenty of time for me to make the decision that feels right for me, but right now I know my focus needs to be continuing to work hard each and every day in order to continue improving as a player."

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