Roberto Mancini has shown that he’s willing to trust youngsters in his Italy squad and three talents clearly deserve to be promoted to the first team, Apollo Heyes argues.
The Azzurri are in a delicate spot following their failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, needing to kickstart a new era following their brief flash of success at Euro 2020.
Italy were unconvincing in their Euro 2024 qualifying loss to England, looking miserable in the first 45 minutes but better in the second half, a match emblematic of the issues now plaguing Mancini’s team.
With Euro 2024 still a little ways away, Mancini now needs to start integrating young talents into the squad and phasing out the guard in order to give Italy a fresh look ahead of their next major outing.
1 – Destiny Udogie
Udogie’s exclusion from the Italy squad for their first Euro 2024 qualifiers raised eyebrows, with many supporters believing the 20-year-old has shown enough at Udinese over the last few years to deserve his Azzurri debut.
Tottenham paid €18m for the left back and are preparing to welcome him in the summer. It seems like a matter of time now until Udogie finally breaks into the squad, allowing Leonardo Spinazzola to take more of a back-seat role.
This season, Udogie has scored three goals and provided three assists in 23 Serie A appearances for Udinese, seeing 2006 minutes of action in the league.
2 – Nicolo Fagioli
One glaring issue in Italy’s loss to England was their midfield, which looked lethargic and slow with veterans like Jorginho and Marco Verratti starting. Sandro Tonali is ready to carve out his spot in the starting lineup and adding a new face alongside him may breath some new life to the department.
Fagioli broke into Juventus’ first team this season, taking advantage of Paul Pogba’s injuries and Leandro Paredes’ generally lacklustre performances. The 21-year-old has shown his intelligence and character whilst playing under Massimiliano Allegri, scoring two goals and providing five assists in 26 first team appearances.
Whilst it’s still a little to early to hand Fagioli a starting spot, the run-up to Euro 2024 is a good opportunity for the 21-year-old to begin his integration into the Italy squad.
3 – Tommaso Baldanzi
One issue that has hampered the Azzurri for years now is the lack of a reliable goalscorer, and whilst Baldanzi is more of a trequartista than a true striker, he has the capability to add a wealth of creativity to Mancini’s side.
In his debut season in Serie A, the 20-year-old has scored four goals across 18 appearances and averaged 3.10 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes, showing his ability to offer some new ideas in the final third.
In a similar spot to Fagioli, it’s likely too early to make Baldanzi a regular in the Azzurri squad, but he should still be given the chance to show his creativity on the main stage.