Raoul Bellanova is set to make his Italy debut in their friendly against Ecuador, giving him an important chance to impress Luciano Spalletti ahead of Euro 2024.
The 23-year-old Torino talent was handed his first call up by Spalletti for this international break but didn’t manage to get off the bench in the 2-1 win over Venezuela on Thursday, forcing him to wait for his Azzurri debut.
Bellanova, who has a long and storied history in the Italy youth teams, has been one of the best players in Ivan Juric’s Torino squad this term, attracting the attention of a number of top clubs including Manchester United, Aston Villa and West Ham.
La Stampa via TMW highlights how Bellanova now has the golden opportunity to put Spalletti in a difficult spot ahead of this summer’s European Championship, trying to carve out a spot for himself in the squad. To do so, he’ll need to impress in this evening’s friendly with Ecuador.
Spalletti is giving a chance to a number of players in the friendly at the Red Bulls Arena, planning to start Nicolo Zaniolo, Guglielmo Vicario and Giacomo Raspadori, amongst others.
Bellanova stats
This season, the 23-year-old right wing back has scored one goal and provided three assists in 2465 minutes of action across 30 total games.