Roberto Mancini did not ease himself back into the job. He ripped up most of what he left behind.
In his first major act since being re-appointed Italy head coach, the 61-year-old has named a bold, 34-man squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League campaign – and it reads like the start of a new era as much as a second coming.
A Second Reign, A Different Italy
Mancini’s return, confirmed by the FIGC at the end of July after Gennaro Gattuso’s departure and a third straight World Cup failure, always promised change. The list he has now delivered confirms it.
Of the heroes who lifted Euro 2020 under his guidance, only six survive: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alessandro Bastoni, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Nicolo Barella, Bryan Cristante and Giacomo Raspadori. The spine is familiar; the flesh around it is not.
Italy’s Nations League campaign begins with four League A Group 1 fixtures across the September and October international break: Belgium at home, France away, and a double-header with Turkey. The schedule is unforgiving. Mancini has chosen to be just as ruthless.
Big Names Out, New Blood In
The omissions jump off the page. Chelsea’s Marco Palestra, recently sidelined by injury, is out. So too Tottenham Hotspur’s Destiny Udogie and Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa, high-profile absentees from a squad that once would have been built around them.
Palestra, capped twice and handed his debut in March, sits this one out. Udogie has not featured since June 2025. Chiesa, recalled earlier this year but unused, has not played for the Azzurri since Euro 2024. Now all three watch from distance as the national team turns a sharp corner.
They are not alone. Juventus trio Manuel Locatelli, Federico Gatti and Andrea Cambiaso miss out. Napoli pair Leonardo Spinazzola and Alessandro Buongiorno are also absent, as is Al-Qadsiah striker Mateo Retegui. Names that once felt nailed on have been pushed aside in favour of something fresher, riskier, more experimental.
The pressure to deliver after another World Cup absence might have driven a more conservative coach back to his comfort zone. Mancini has gone the other way.
Nine Debutants and a New Core
Nine players receive their first call-up. Nine.
Among them is Brentford right-back Michael Kayode, a dynamic presence in the Premier League, and 18-year-old Bologna goalkeeper Massimo Pessina, fast-tracked into the senior setup.
Roma defender Daniele Ghilardi, Monza’s Eddy Kouadio, Cagliari’s Alessandro Romano, Sporting Lisbon midfielder Issa Doumbia, Sassuolo forward Sebastiano Esposito, Napoli’s Antonio Vergara and Nurnberg’s Mohamed Ali Zoma complete a striking list of debutants.
This is not tinkering. It is a reset.
Mancini has also kept faith with the next generation already on the radar. Borussia Dortmund forward Samuele Inacio – Brazilian father, Italian passport, and a clear decision to represent the country of his birth – retains his place. So does fellow 18-year-old Honest Ahanor, currently on loan at Crystal Palace from Chelsea, underlining the coach’s commitment to building around young, mobile attacking options.
Around them, there remains an experienced core. Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori, Inter’s Federico Dimarco and Nicolo Barella, Tottenham midfielder Sandro Tonali and Como striker Moise Kean are all in. The message is clear: the old guard will guide, but they will not block the path.
Coverciano, Then the Real Test
Italy assemble at Coverciano next Monday for their first training session under Mancini 2.0. That is where the new hierarchy will begin to form, where the Euro 2020 survivors meet the nine newcomers and the teenagers trying to elbow their way into the starting XI.
Then comes the real examination.
On September 25, Italy open their Nations League campaign at the Stadio Olimpico against Belgium, a fixture that rarely lacks edge or narrative. Three days later, they fly to Bursa to face Turkey, a team that knows them well and will relish testing this reworked Azzurri side.
The level rises again on October 2 in Saint-Denis, where Italy face 2026 World Cup semi-finalists France. By then, the experiment will be fully exposed under the harshest floodlights.
Finally, on October 5, Turkey visit the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara in Bologna, closing a four-game run that will tell Mancini plenty about who belongs in this new Italy and who does not.
He has chosen upheaval over nostalgia, potential over sentiment. The squad list reads like a challenge as much as a plan.
Now the question hangs over Coverciano and beyond: can this rebuilt Azzurri grow up quickly enough to turn a fresh start into a genuine resurgence?
