Roberto Mancini admitted that Italy weren’t in good shape offensively ahead of the upcoming Euro qualifier. He’ll turn to unusual solutions to try to remedy the situation. The Azzurri boss has selected Tigre striker Mateo Retegui for the England and Malta games, according to TuttoSport.
The 23-year-old striker will decide shortly whether to answer the call-up or play with Argentina. The gaffer already tried to enroll ‘foreign’ players in the past. The strategy hasn’t always been successful. Roma’s Roger Ibanez and Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi ultimately turned down the proposal.
Retegui had a strong 2022 and has begun well this year too, netting six goals in as many matches. Milan and Napoli reportedly have him on their radar ahead of the summer window. Ciro Immobile and Giacomo Raspadori are currently hurt and won’t make the squad if they don’t recover next week. Gianluca Scamacca just returned from an injury, while Andrea Belotti doesn’t play a lot.
Italy already have a few oriundi among their regulars, such as Emerson Palmieri, Rafael Toloi, and Jorginho. The U-21 team will try to pull off the same move. Paolo Nicolato hand-picked Belgrano talent Bruno Zappelli, Goal informs.
Mancini also inserted 26-year-old Andrea Compagno in the provisional squad list. He hit his stride in Romania after playing primarily in Serie D in Italy and in the San Marino league when he was younger. He blossomed at Craiova and joined Steaua Bucuresti last summer. The 26-year-old has scored 17 times and debuted in Conference League this season.
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