Opinion: How Lucas Digne has developed at Roma

Lucas Digne continued his brilliant form in Roma's emphatic 3-0 triumph over Chievo Verona on Sunday, in a match where his attacking contribution was vital in giving his side width and drive down the left.

With Luciano Spalletti instructing his wingers to predominantly venture infield, this provided the perfect platform for the flying Frenchman to motor forward into the vast spaces ahead of him.

Stephan El Shaarawy, Roma's left winger, adhered beautifully to Spalletti's tactics, as he constantly dragged his opponent infield to create space for Digne to make his customarily dynamic overlapping runs.

In addition, on the odd occasion El Shaarawy stayed wide, Digne would intelligently make underlapping runs to the inside of his winger, much like David Alaba does for Bayern Munich, which provided a further headache for the Flying Donkeys to deal with.

The ever improving understanding between El Shaarawy and Digne has been fascinating to observe in recent months, as they've subsequently developed an almost telepathic knowledge of each other's movements and tendencies. This match was yet another clear example of their effective partnership.

Crucially, Antonio Rudiger, Roma's left sided centre-back, would slide across to cover Digne when he bombed forward so he could attack with the assurance that necessary cover was present in case of a turnover.

While Digne's deliveries into the box can at times be a little erratic, against Chievo, however, his passing was superb, with the 22-year-old showing plenty of composure and confidence.

The fact he made such well thought out decisions with the ball at his feet and got his execution spot on saw him create an outstanding five chances. Indeed this served as a testament to his hard work in training to better himself in this regard.

The PSG -loanee also got stuck into his defensive work manfully and in typically aggressive fashion, undertaking his work with unwavering commitment and determination.

While his future at Roma is uncertain beyond this campaign, there's no doubting that Digne would love to make a permanent move to the Eternal City. "Nothing is decided between the clubs, but I hope I can stay with Roma,” he explained. “I like it here and feel I can progress a great deal.

“This is the most stable season of my career so far. I’m playing every game for a truly great team, where we want to win every game we play, and I’m enjoying my progress."

Another key reason behind his desire to stay is that he's really enjoying working under Spalletti's expert tutelage, whose detailed, individualised approach to coaching is something the Frenchman is thoroughly relishing.

"I am only 22, so in every training session my ambition is to develop my football. With Spalletti as coach, who works really intensively with me, and with superb team-mates, this is a great place to be.

"I’m gaining a lot of experience right now, especially developing the defensive part of my game. I can only do my best in every game and every training session with Roma. And I feel great. It is fantastic to be part of a team that just keep getting better. I think I am playing the best football of my life right now."

With the upcoming European Championships to be held in his homeland over the summer, Digne certainly has plenty to look forward to. But he'll surely also take a second to look back and admire just how far he's come over the past season, for his time at Roma has been tremendous for his development as a footballer.