The Italy squad has for many years struggled with converting chances into goals and the arrival or return of Azzurri options to Serie A could help resolve that issue this season.
While we wait to see who will replace Roberto Mancini on the bench and how they will approach the attack, it is worth looking at the biggest problem he and any new CT will face. Watching the Under-21 and Under-20 sides too, the lack of effective centre-forwards would appear to be endemic in the Azzurri.
It prompted Mancini to look outside of the Peninsula to bring in Mateo Retegui from Argentina and his odds of becoming first choice just increased exponentially with his first move to Serie A for Genoa. It took him 30 seconds to break the deadlock on his debut in the Coppa Italia and with the tradition of centre-forwards excelling at Marassi, it is difficult to think of a better club for him to make his first impact in this league. He is already starting to learn the language better too and that can only be a positive for international duty.
Retegui might not be the only Italo-Argentine to represent the Azzurri under the next CT, because new Fiorentina signing Lucas Beltran also has Italian citizenship thanks to his heritage. The former River Plate hitman is already earning comparisons with Gabriel Batistuta and if there is one thing the Viola have been lacking with Vincenzo Italiano, it is someone who can convert those many chances into goals.
Gianluca Scamacca seemed destined to become the new Italy centre-forward with those performances at Sassuolo, but his progress only stalled at West Ham United, suffering from injuries and struggling to adapt to the Premier League. He is now back in the country after a bidding war with Inter and is looking to revitalise his career with Atalanta, although there will have to be a share of the goals with fellow new signing El Bilal Toure. La Dea are regularly a prolific side under Gian Piero Gasperini and can also participate in the Europa League after a break from continental competition.
UEFA tournaments are also bound to be of benefit to Ciro Immobile, who will finally get the chance to try himself out in the Champions League. The 33-year-old was always reliable in Serie A, but with Italy he showed that lack of international experience on a regular basis. The last time he played in the Champions League was in 2020-21 and he found the net five times in five games. That remains the only season in the last eight years when he played in Europe’s primary club competition.
Federico Chiesa, Wilfried Gnonto and Nicolò Zaniolo will not see much of continental opposition this season, stuck at Juventus, Leeds United and Aston Villa respectively, although Gnonto is still pushing for the exit door to an Everton side that is at least in the Premier League rather than the Championship. The most important thing for Chiesa is surely to get regular playing time and ensure he is over the two years of injury nightmares, to give Italy back one of their brightest talents.
Another who can without doubt benefit from time on the pitch is Lorenzo Lucca, who turning 23 in September is already a long way behind schedule in his development. The extraordinarily tall striker stands at 2.01m (circa 6ft6in) and is the archetype of the kind of centre-forward Italian football has traditionally lacked. After time at Pisa and Ajax, Lucca has now joined Udinese on loan with an option to buy for €8m plus bonuses. He has started well, finding the net in his 17 minutes played for the Friulani in the Coppa Italia, and can be a valuable asset going forward for the Nazionale.
Lorenzo Colombo is another who really ought to have done better by now, but has been punted around from the Milan youth academy to various loan spells at Cremonese, SPAL and Lecce, all without finding consistent playing time or confidence. If anything, the last few years have dented his self-belief and progress. Sadly, this is the reality for so many Italian strikers and it is also what eventually lead to the dearth of viable options for Nazionale coaches to draw upon. Either they are given more opportunities in Serie A or those who follow Mancini must continue to cast the net wider to anyone with Italian great-grandparents who has never set foot in the country.
I have Lorenzo Colombo on my Padova team in Football manager and he is flourishing. 20 goals in serie a this season. I’m doing my part
what about Raspadori