Roberto Mancini's Bold Italy Squad Announcement

Roberto Mancini’s first Italy squad has landed with a thud rather than a whisper. Daniel Maldini is in despite his recent off-field incident, Rolando Mandragora returns from the international wilderness after more than five years, and Chelsea’s Marco Palestra has been left at home.

Italy face a demanding Nations League schedule over this international break: Belgium on September 25, Turkiye on September 28, France on October 2 and a second clash with Turkiye on October 5. The group then wraps up in November, with France on the 12th and Belgium on the 15th. Mancini has called up nine new faces, but it is the big calls around familiar names that dominate the conversation.

Maldini in, Palestra out

Palestra’s omission had been widely expected. The Chelsea man is still waiting for his competitive debut after picking up an injury in pre-season, and the lack of minutes has cost him his place at international level.

Maldini’s inclusion, though, always felt like the real flashpoint. The forward has been under scrutiny since a car accident that led to his driving licence being suspended after he tested narrowly over the alcohol limit. Reports initially suggested he had also failed a drugs test. Those stories have since been debunked, with all toxicology tests returning negative, but the cloud around the incident lingered long enough to make his selection a genuine doubt.

Mancini has picked him anyway. Cagliari have already made their stance clear, standing firmly by Maldini and insisting he will start their next Serie A match this weekend. Now the Azzurri boss has followed suit, backing the player at the very moment his character and focus were being questioned.

Familiar names return, one long road back

This squad also marks a turning point for Nicolò Fagioli and Nicolò Zaniolo. Neither had been called up since October 2024, but both are back in the blue shirt picture.

Fagioli, now at Fiorentina, has seven senior caps and has long been viewed as one of Italy’s more refined midfield options. Zaniolo’s story with the national team has always carried a touch of drama: Mancini first called him up before he had even made a single Serie A appearance. That early faith helped define his reputation. He now sits on 19 caps, the last of which came in a friendly against Ecuador in March 2024. His most recent competitive outing dates back to November 2023 against Ukraine. The gap has been noticeable. So is his return.

Then there is Mandragora. His name on the list jumps off the page for a different reason. The new Torino midfielder has not featured for Italy since March 2021, a break of more than five years. He has just one senior cap to his name, earned in June 2018 in a 3-1 friendly defeat to France, and for a long time it looked like it might remain a trivia-quiz footnote.

Mancini has reopened that chapter. At 29, Mandragora is no longer a prospect but a seasoned professional, and his recall signals a willingness to reward persistence as much as potential.

Nine newcomers, high-profile recalls, and one or two calculated risks: Mancini’s first squad in this new cycle does not tiptoe into the Nations League. It walks straight into the spotlight, with Belgium, Turkiye and France waiting to reveal whether these bold decisions will harden Italy’s edge or expose fresh fault lines.