Italy manager Roberto Mancini says Samuele Inacio’s age and limited first-team experience explain why the 18-year-old has been left out of all three matchday squads during the current international break.
The Borussia Dortmund teenager was named in Italy’s 34-man squad for Nations League fixtures against Belgium, Turkey and France in September and October, but was not selected for the 2-0 defeat by Belgium last Friday or Monday’s 4-1 victory away to Turkey.
Inacio has also remained at Coverciano with eight other players ahead of Friday’s match against France at the Stade de France.
“He’s a young player who still needs to develop,” said Mancini during his pre-match news conference on Thursday evening.
“He’s 18. It takes time. He has to start training with us and build experience. Even if he’s at Borussia Dortmund, he hasn’t played much. We know his quality; he’ll surely be an important player for the national team, but he’s very young, so we need to give him time and let him understand what he can do.”
Inacio broke into the Borussia Dortmund first team at the age of 17 earlier this year and has been included in Italy’s past two squads.
He made his senior international debut in a friendly against Luxembourg in June while Silvio Baldini was serving as interim manager. Baldini had selected a squad made up almost entirely of players from his Italy Under-21 group.
The teenager was subsequently included in Mancini’s first squad after returning to charge of the Azzurri for the September-October international window.
The decision to leave him out has caused concern among some supporters because his only Italy appearance came in a friendly. He remains eligible to play for Brazil at senior level through his father, Pia, who was on Napoli’s books when his son was born.
Italy still have one competitive Nations League fixture remaining after the France game: a home match against Turkey on Monday evening. Inacio could therefore still receive his first competitive cap then, or during a future international break.
Italy squad for France:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Marco Carnesecchi, Guglielmo Vicario.
Defenders: Michael Kayode, Matteo Ruggeri, Riccardo Calafiori, Alessandro Bastoni, Giorgio Scalvini, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Gianluca Mancini.
Midfielders: Samuele Ricci, Sandro Tonali, Nicolo Fagioli, Issa Doumbia, Davide Frattesi, Nicolo Barella.
Forwards: Francesco Pio Esposito, Moise Kean, Gianluca Scamacca, Mohamed Ali Zoma, Daniel Maldini, Sebastiano Esposito, Antonio Vergara.
Peter Young is a Senior Reporter with Football Italia.
