Only One Lazio Player Picked as Mancini Names First Italy Squad | OneFootball

According to The Laziali, Roberto Mancini has named a 34-man Italy squad for the upcoming internationals, with only Davide Frattesi selected from Lazio, while captain Mattia Zaccagni misses out.

The 61-year-old's first squad of his second spell features nine new faces and omits several experienced players. Mancini returned after a first tenure from 2018 to 2023 that brought the Euro 2020 title but ended with failure to reach the 2022 World Cup.

Italy's fortunes did not pick up under successors Luciano Spalletti and Gennaro Gattuso, who also missed World Cup qualification. Gattuso resigned following a play-off defeat to Bosnia in March, then took over as Lazio head coach in June. Afterwards, new FIGC president Giovanni Malagò arrived and Paolo Maldini briefly resigned as technical director, with Claudio Ranieri coming in and Mancini reinstated.

Frattesi, 26, is now a mainstay for the Azzurri, having often started under Spalletti and Gattuso even when short of minutes at Inter. Since joining Lazio in the summer he has quickly become a key figure and leads their scoring with three goals.

Italy open their UEFA Nations League campaign at the Stadio Olimpico against Belgium next Friday. They will then face Vincenzo Montella’s Türkiye twice and travel to play Zinedine Zidane’s France.

Source: The Laziali

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”