5 Italy newcomers under Gattuso, but debut isn’t guaranteed

Nicolò Cambiaghi and Hans Nicolussi Caviglia are the Italy newcomers for October games, but Gennaro Gattuso has already proved that the debut for new faces isn’t guaranteed.

Bologna winger Cambiaghi and Fiorentina midfielder Nicolussi Caviglia are the latest players given their first Italy call-up by Gattuso.

The Italy debutants in September

The new Azzurri boss had already named three debutants for September games, calling Giovanni Leoni, Giovanni Fabbian and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Only the latter, however, effectively made his senior debut last month, while the other two didn’t even go on the bench against Estonia and Israel.

Unfortunately, Leoni won’t be given a new chance for at least a year as the promising centre-back recently suffered a cruciate ligament injury in his Liverpool debut.

Competition for Cambiaghi and Nicolussi Caviglia

Fabbian was not called up this time, while Pio Esposito is part of the team again.

Cambiaghi and Nicolussi Caviglia will surely face stiff competition to make it into the Azzurri squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Lazio’s Mattia Zaccagni and Giacomo Raspadori will compete with Cambiaghi for the left winger position, while Nicolussi Caviglia will challenge Bryan Cristante and Manuel Locatelli given that Nicolò Barella and Sandro Tonali are guaranteed starters.