With the Euro 2020 squads expanded to 26 players, Susy Campanale believes Giovanni Di Lorenzo could be a smart addition to Roberto Mancini’s Italy.
When going into a tournament with games every few days and the fear of injuries so great that UEFA have to expand the squad numbers, the focus has to be on players who are reliable. Giovanni Di Lorenzo is the kind of figure Roberto Mancini can really look to in various different roles and has remarkable stamina. In a season dominated by fitness problems, especially at Napoli, he only missed two of his club’s 51 competitive games, both due to suspension.
The right-back came late to top level football via Empoli and has been at Napoli since 2019. So far, the man who turns 28 in August has amassed six senior Italy caps, providing an assist on his debut in the 5-0 Euro 2020 qualifier in Liechtenstein in October 2019.
Recent outings have been limited for the Nazionale, but with Alessandro Florenzi suffering from some injury issues at PSG this summer, he could get more playing time at the Euros.
Di Lorenzo started out as a striker and was even compared to Gabriel Batistuta in his youth, which is what allows him to push forward at right-back and make a strong contribution on set plays, scoring four goals with eight assists in all competition for Napoli this season.
Considering he was a forward originally, you might think Di Lorenzo would be a more attacking right-back than he really is, but he does know how to hold back and focus on the defending side of his game too. This is all the more remarkable when you realise that he spent much of his career as a wing-back in a five-man midfield and many assumed he would struggle in Carlo Ancelotti and Gattuso’s bank of four in defence, but he proved them all wrong.
The epic injury crisis in Naples also allowed Di Lorenzo to showcase his versatility, filling in at centre-back on several occasions in 2019-20, and even sometimes at left-back. He became the Joker in the pack and one of the few who stayed healthy pretty much throughout the last two campaigns. All of these elements make him a valuable player to have in a limited squad for a summer tournament that can be very tough on fitness levels.