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The 20-year-old forward scored Inter’s second goal in a 2-0 win against Cagliari, after Lautaro Martinez’s opener in the ninth minute.

Esposito’s goal saw him become the fourth-youngest Italian player to score for Inter in Serie A since 2000 (20 years, 91 days), after his brother Sebastiano (17 years, 172 days), Mario Balotelli (17 years, 238 days), and Davide Faraoni (20 years, 74 days).

After the youngster also scored in its FIFA Club World Cup win against River Plate in the summer, Chivu hopes he can continue to find the net this season.

“We must not forget he is only 20 years old, he has his whole future ahead of him, he just has to keep working the way he is now,” Chivu said.

“He’s got great quality, but also real margin for improvement, so he’s got to keep his feet on the ground.

“I admit, he is surprising me with how well he’s doing, as he plays for the team and knows how to do certain things, is not afraid of anything, keeps a cool head in front of goal, and I’m glad he managed to get his first goal. Maybe this can help him relax even more.”

The win was Inter’s 1600th in Serie A; it is the second team to reach this landmark after Juventus, which has 1714 wins.

Chivu was pleased to see the win through with a clean sheet, the second of the campaign for his side.

“Cagliari surprised us a little with a change of tactics, but the principles remained the same and we opened the scoring early on,” Chivu added.

“I think Cagliari have the tallest squad in Europe, so we already knew they would be dangerous from dead ball situations and we tried to add a few centimetres to our team.

“They also know how to time their runs and jumps, but we kept a clean sheet, and that too was important.

“We had the opportunities to finish it off, but we didn’t take them and that gave Cagliari more confidence, they also started throwing on strikers, but we managed to lock it down eventually and I am pleased.”