Italy in defensive injury crisis ahead of World Cup qualifiers after latest training blow

Italy and CT Luciano Spalletti have hit crisis mode in defence ahead of June’s World Cup qualifiers against Norway and Moldova, as Milan centre-back Matteo Gabbia has now come down with a calf issue in training. 

According to reports from Sky Sport Italia, Gabbia was forced out of the Italy national team training session on Tuesday with a calf injury, which is likely to be a tendon issue according to the initial updates.

The severity of the issue, and whether Italy will need to call in a replacement, remains to be seen. 

Gabbia adds to Italy’s defensive injury crisis 

The Azzurri are already without regular first-team centre-backs Riccardo Calafiori of Arsenal and Napoli’s Alessandro Buongiorno through injury. 

Inter’s Francesco Acerbi has recently refused a call-up to join the national team for June’s World Cup qualifiers, while there are ongoing fitness concerns over Federico Gatti of Juventus and Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo, both of whom trained separately on Tuesday. 

Additionally, Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli, who is also able to cover in defence, also dropped out of the squad as a result of an injury issue on Monday. 

That means that Inter’s Alessandro Bastoni is the only capped central defender currently available in the Italy national team squad. 

The injury crisis at centre-back could be good news for Fiorentina captain Luca Ranieri, who was called into the squad to replace Buongiorno earlier this week, while the uncapped 21-year-old Diego Coppola could also be in line for an opportunity in his first camp.