Seven players have dropped out of Luciano Spalletti’s Italy national team squad for Nations League fixtures against Belgium and France in November, including injured centre-backs Riccardo Calafiori and Mattia Gabbia, while two Juventus players have also been dropped.
Which seven players have been dropped from Italy squad?
There has been a change among the goalkeeping department between the October and November squads, as Juventus’s Michele Di Gregorio drops out and is replaced by Napoli’s Alex Meret.
Two injured centre-backs, namely Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori and Milan’s Matteo Gabbia are not fit to play. Federcio Gatti is back in the squad as a result, while 19-year-old Pietro Comuzzo has also earned his first senior call-up.
Right wing-back Raoul Bellanova has not been included this time around, but Juve youngster Nicolo Savona has instead.
Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini has not been chosen this time after his red-card while Italy were two goals up in an eventual 2-2 draw with Belgium last month.
Juventus’s Nicolo Fagioli, who has been on the bench for the last three Bianconeri matches, has not made the cut this time around either.
Nicolo Zaniolo has not been included, although he was a last-minute replacement in October and wasn’t included in the original squad then, either.
All four of Juve’s designated attackers remain the same in November as they were in October: Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, Giacomo Raspadori and Daniel Maldini are included.
Official: Spalletti confirms 23-man Italy squad for November fixtures