Italy coach Luciano Spalletti has called up Roma’s Stephan El Shaarawy after Nicolo Zaniolo was forced to withdraw from the squad.
The Aston Villa forward was implicated in the quickly expanding Serie A betting scandal on Thursday and was questioned by police alongside Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali at Coverciano last night. After news broke, the pair were sent home from the training camp, removing them from the squad.
Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli was the first to be implicated in the investigation and he admitted involvement when speaking to prosecutors in Turin yesterday, willingly handing over his mobile phone.
The Serie A betting scandal is still in its early stages and reports today suggest that at least 10 more players are involved.
As announced today, El Shaarawy has now been called up to replace Zaniolo in Spalletti’s Italy squad. The Azzurri are preparing to face Malta on Saturday evening and England on October 17 in two Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Torino talent Samuele Ricci also joined Spalletti’s squad, being called up to replace Tonali.
So what does that mean for the Azzurri? Are we going to lose all our key players over this scandal now?!! Managia!!!