Which 18 Italy players took part in Gattuso’s first training session – Football Italia

DORTMUND, GERMANY – MARCH 23: Players of Italy sing the national anthem prior to the UEFA Nations League Quarterfinal Leg Two match between Germany and Italy at Football Stadium Dortmund on March 23, 2025 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Gennaro Gattuso took charge of his first training session as CT of the Italy national team on Tuesday, but had a limited set of players available to him for his first work-out. Here is who was and who was not involved at Coverciano on Tuesday. 

Gattuso named a squad of 28 players for his first camp in charge of the Italy national team, handing first call-ups to the likes of Giovanni Leoni and Francesco Pio Esposito. 

He also offered returns to Gianluca Mancini and Gianluca Scamacca after long spells away from the Azzurri set-up, and also called upon Nazionale regulars in Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori, Nicolo Barella and Sandro Tonali. 

Only 18 of the 28 players that have been called up for Italy duty were involved in Tuesday’s session, though. 

Many of those players were involved in club matches on Sunday evening, and are therefore still in their respective recovery phases. 

Gianluca Scamacca reportedly felt some discomfort in his knee and did not train on precautionary grounds. 

Below are the 18 players who were involved in Italy training on Monday

• Gianluigi Donnarumma (Man City), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham), Alex Meret (Napoli), Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giovanni Leoni (Liverpool), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid), Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah). 

Gattuso’s first Italy squad in full 

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Man City), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham), Alex Meret (Napoli), Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta).

Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Raoul Bellanova (Atalanta), Riccardo Calafiori (Arsenal), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Giovanni Leoni (Liverpool), Gianluca Mancini (Roma). 

Midfielders: Nicolo Barella (Inter), Giovanni Fabbian (Bologna), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Nicolo Rovella (Lazio), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle). 

Forwards: Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Daniel Maldini (Atalanta), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid), Mateo Retegui (Al-Qadsiah), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).