UEFA announced yesterday the addition of three roster spots for Euro 2021, therefore the national teams will have 26-man squads. Most Azzurri received the first shot of the vaccine yesterday, either in Milan or Rome, as the Italian FA was the first to take such precaution for their players. There are five openings now up for grabs, according to Tuttomercatoweb.
Roberto Mancini will pick the third-string goalkeeper behind Gianluigi Donnarumma and Salvatore Sirigu among Alex Meret, Alessio Cragio, Pierluigi Gollini and Marco Silvestri. Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni are considered locks as center-backs, while Emerson, Alessandro Florenzi and Leonardo Spinazzola will man the defensive flanks. An additional defender will be either a pure right-back like Giovanni Di Lorenzo or Davide Calabria, or a versatile contributor, for instance Gianluca Mancini or Rafael Toloi.
Marco Verratti, Jorginho, Nicolò Barella, Manuel Locatelli and Lorenzo Pellegrini will be joined by one or two more central midfielders. Stefano Sensi will be present there if healthy, Bryan Cristante, Matteo Pessina, Sandro Tonali, Gaetano Castrovilli and Mattia Zaccagni are in the running, while Nicolò Zaniolo will not be rushed back.
Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Insigne will be the top wingers, Domenico Berardi probably earned his place in the roster too, while Federico Bernardeschi is likely to be called up because of his versatility. Stephan El Shaarawy and Vincenzo Grifo are the options for a possible fifth pacey attacker. Ciro Immobile, Andrea Belotti, and Moise Kean will be the main strikers, while one among Francesco Caputo, Gianluca Scamacca, and Kevin Lasagna could make it, depending on the decisions in other roles, if they finished the season very strong.