Spalletti unveils Italy’s Euros provisional list

Italy’s head coach, Luciano Spalleti, has revealed his 30-man provisional list for Euro 2024 with some interesting omissions and inclusions. The defending champions will face Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina in warm-up friendlies before trimming and traveling to Germany for the competition.

The Azzurri won the last edition of the competition in 2024 at Wembley after beating England on penalties. However, they failed to qualify for a second consecutive FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Roberto Mancini, who led them to the triumph last time out, was replaced by Luciano Spalletti in August 2023. He has chosen to omit Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli, Lazio striker Ciro Immobile, and midfielder Marco Verratti, who plays for Qatari side Al-Arabi after moving there from Paris St-Germain last September.

An interesting addition is Nicolo Fagioli, who recently just returned from a betting ban, as well as 26-year-old uncapped Micheal Folorunsho, who plays for Hellas Verona.

Other notable names are Tottenham’s goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, although his fellow Spurs teammate, Destiny Udogie, missed out as he’s out injured for three months, Arsenal midfielder Jorginho and Inter Milan’s Nicolo Barella are also present.

Italy are paired in Group B with Spain, Croatia and Albania. The list will still be trimmed down to 26 names as stipulated by UEFA. 

Italy’s provisional squad

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham)

Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Inter Milan), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan), Giovanni di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta)

Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino)

Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).