Ten foreign-based players named in Mancini's 34-man Italy squad
The short version
- Mancini named 34 players for Nations League matches against Belgium, France and Turkey; ten play outside Serie A.
- Six of the ten are Premier League players, including Donnarumma, Tonali, Calafiori and Kayode.
- Mancini said Italy must quickly recruit dual-passport players like Zoma, a 22-year-old Nuremberg winger.
- Liverpool's Giovanni Leoni and Chelsea's Marco Palestra are among those monitored but are injured.
- Kayode rejected a Nigeria approach and scored the winner in the 2023 U19 Euro final.
Roberto Mancini called up ten players who play outside Serie A for Italy's Nations League matches against Belgium, France and Turkey.
Italy head coach Roberto Mancini has named a 34-man roster for the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Belgium, France and Turkey, and ten of those players are on the books at clubs outside Serie A.
The Premier League supplies the largest group: captain Gianluigi Donnarumma of Manchester City, Aston Villa's Matteo Ruggeri, Brentford's Michael Kayode, Arsenal's Riccardo Calafiori, Crystal Palace's Honest Ahanor and Tottenham's Sandro Tonali. Issa Doumbia, formerly of Venezia, plays for Sporting CP in Portugal; Diego Coppola is at Paris FC in Ligue 1; and Germany-based Samuele Inacio of Borussia Dortmund and Nuremberg's Mohamed Ali Zoma, of the second division, complete the group.
Wednesday's Gazzetta dello Sport highlighted the trend of Italians moving abroad, largely to England's top flight, alongside Mancini's practice of targeting dual-citizen players who fit his approach. He handed Argentine-born Mateo Retegui an Italy debut in 2023, and the latest example is Zoma, a 22-year-old winger born in Merate to a mother from Côte d'Ivoire. Mancini told reporters Monday that Italy needs to move quickly on such players with dual passports before they are lost.
Kayode, who also holds dual citizenship through Nigeria, came through Italy's youth setup and scored the winner in the 2023 U19 Euro final against Portugal. He said Tuesday that Nigeria had approached him but that he never considered switching allegiances.
The count could rise further. Gazzetta reported that Mancini has tracked Liverpool's Giovanni Leoni and Chelsea's Marco Palestra, along with Fabio Chiarodia of Borussia Mönchengladbach, Luca Reggiani and Filippo Mané of Borussia Dortmund, and Luca Koleosho of Paris FC. Chiarodia, Reggiani and Koleosho are with the Italy U21 squad this window, while Leoni and Palestra are recovering from injuries. Leoni, first called up a year ago, tore a cruciate ligament shortly after his Liverpool debut and is due back in training with the club during the break.
