Luciano Spalletti has called up Stephan El Shaarawy to replace Nicolò Zaniolo, who left Coverciano along with Sandro Tonali after being questioned by the police about illegal gambling. The midfielder hasn’t been replaced yet, Sky informs.
The Roma forward makes his Azzurri return after two years. His last appearance dates back to March 2021. The gaffer coached him in the Italian capital from 2016 to 2027. He’s on his way to Tuscany and will start practicing right away.
Spalletti picked El Shaarawy over another familiar option, Matteo Politano. He has been under the weather and skipped some practice sessions with Napoli this week. He might be added to the squad later on. Matteo Zaccagni has reported to the team after spending extra days with his team to shake off an ankle sprain. Instead, Ivan Provedel will stay home due to a hip injury.
Federico Chiesa has been training on the side because of a small thigh problem. He hasn’t left the Italy setup because there’s a chance he will recover from the England game next Tuesday. Samuele Ricci could be called up to replace Tonali, SportMediaset informs.
On top of El Shaarawy and Zaccagni, Italy can lean on Giacomo Raspadori, Gianluca Scamacca, Moise Kean, Riccardo Orsolini, and Domenico Berardi offensively. They are level with North Macedonia and Ukraine in second place in Group C of the 2024 Euro qualifiers but have a game in hand.
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