Italy national team head coach Luciano Spalletti has handed first senior call ups to Roma and Monza youngsters Niccolo Pisilli and Daniel Maldini, while Federico Chiesa misses out following his recent injury set-back with Liverpool.
Italy will play Belgium and Israel in the next round of Nations League fixtures, taking place on October 10 and 14 respectively.
Milan defender Matteo Gabbia has also been included after an impressive run of performances at centre-back under Paulo Fonseca.
Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio has also been called up to replace the injured Napoli stopper Alex Meret.
Gabbia in for Juve’s Federico Gatti is the only change among the defenders after the last Nations League squad in September.
Pisilli is the only replacement among the midfielders, coming in for Atalanta’s Marco Brescianini, who has also suffered a recent injury set-back.
There is only one change among the attackers as well, as Maldini, son of Milan legend Paolo, replaces Matteo Zaccagni.
Official: Italy Nations League squad for Belgium and Israel
Goalkeepers: Donnarumma (PSG), Vicario (Tottenham), Di Gregorio (Juventus).
Defenders: Bastoni (Inter), Buongiorno (Napoli), Calafiori (Arsenal), Gabbia (Milan), Okoli (Leicester City), Cambiaso (Juventus), Bellanova (Atalanta), Dimarco (Inter), Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Udogie. (Tottenham)
Midfielders: Tonali (Newcastle), Ricci (Torino), Fagioli (Juventus), Frattesi (Inter), Pellergini (Roma), Pisilli (Roma).
Forwards: Retegui (Atalanta), Raspadori (Napoli), Kean (Fiorentina), Maldini (Monza).
𝑵𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒆 🇮🇹
La lista dei 23 convocati del Ct Luciano #Spalletti per i due impegni in Nations League contro Belgio e Israele 💙#Nazionale #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/FMbp5Ie91e
— Nazionale Italiana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri) October 4, 2024
I would like to see Lorenzo Lucca get a look eventually – his form is great right now.
Didn’t Spalletti see how Locatelli improved this season?
No Zampacosta or Zaniolo.
I would drop Pellergini. Yes, I like Zaniolo to replace him and I like to see Locatelli too. I think Zaniolo’s condition is not perfect due to lake of playing time at club. I think Spalletti has a biased view on Locatelli.
Italy will soon have the world’s best creative and skilled mid field in Zaniolo, Fagioli, Tonali, Locatelli.
okoli? never heard before.
kean and not lucca or cutrone? really?
Such a lack of top forwards nowadays.
Why does Spsletti continue to call Di Lorenzo. He is garbage.
Di Lorenzo @ForzaITA has always been a serviceable player. And yes, most of us can all agree that Di Lorenzo had a brutal Euro. Leading up to the tournament, Spalletti openly proclaimed to the media that Di Lorenzo was “like a son to him.” These words show blatant favourtism, very unprofessional in my humble opinion and the main reason why Di Lorenzo was never substituted at Euro 2024.
raspadori , chiesa, fratessi, pellegrini, christante, tonali, cambiaso, di Marco, aceribi ,Bastoni, donarumma.
Keane and Maldini are serie b standard only