Italy CT Giampiero Ventura confirms he’ll “absolutely” talk with Mario Balotelli, but can’t guarantee he’ll be called-up.
After a difficult couple of seasons, the Nice striker has 10 goals in 13 appearances this season, with his side top of Ligue 1.
“Will I talk with Balotelli? Absolutely, yes,” Ventura confirmed in a Press conference at Coverciano.
Italy CT Giampiero Ventura confirms he’ll “absolutely” talk with Mario Balotelli, but can’t guarantee he’ll be called-up.
After a difficult couple of seasons, the Nice striker has 10 goals in 13 appearances this season, with his side top of Ligue 1.
“Will I talk with Balotelli? Absolutely, yes,” Ventura confirmed in a Press conference at Coverciano.
“As to whether he’ll be called-up, right now I don’t know. His qualities are not up for discussion, but there are other things that can be questioned and now we have to see where we can go.
“The strength of a team is to have everyone pulling in the same direction, everyone has to be on board.
“That goes for every player, not just Balotelli. The talk that I’ll have with him won’t be decisive in whether or not he’s called-up.”
Ventura replaced Antonio Conte in the Azzurri role this summer, and was asked about his tenure so far.
“If I look at the results I think we’ve done well enough, but if we analyse specific matches then some things have to change, for example the 15 minutes against Macedonia.
“All in all the balance is positive, but there’s room for improvement.
“Will we stick with 4-2-4? I accelerated the 4-2-4 [against Liechtenstein] because we had five days together, something we won’t have next year.
“I wanted to continue with it, perhaps facing a different national team than Germany. Against the Germans we couldn’t risk it, because they’re a top side.”
Gianluigi Donnarumma is expected to be the heir to his namesake, Buffon, when will the baton be passed?
“Clearly it’s the CT who makes the final decision,” Ventura replied.
“The World Cup in 2018 is the declared goal of the Juventus goalkeeper though. He’s a reference point for everyone, and in addition he’s a really smart lad.”