Italy announced a provisional squad for the Euro 2024 Championship with some major changes on Thursday, May 23. The defending champions will kick off their title defence without star footballers Manuel Locatelli and Ciro Immobile.
Manager Luciano Spalletti named a 30-member provisional squad for the mega tournament in Germany starting on June 15. Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli was a surprise pick in the team after just returning from a seven-month ban for betting violations.
Fagioli, 23, was banned after being found guilty of illegal betting earlier this season. The midfielder made his only appearance for the national team in November 2024 in a friendly match against Albania. Only three players from Juventus, including Fagioli, make Spalletti's team.
Bologna's rising defender Riccardo Calafiori is called up for national duties for the first time after as the club mounts a top-four finish with a game in hand. His teammate Riccardo Orsolini is the only second Bologna player selected for Euro 2024.
As expected, Serie A champions Inter Milan boasts the highest number of six players. PSG's star goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who won the Player of the Tournament at Euro 2020, is among four goalkeeping options in Spalletti's provisional team.
Italy's provisional squad for Euro 2024:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham).
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Inter Milan), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan), Raoul Bellanova (Torino), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), Riccardo Calafiori (Bologna), Andrea Cambiaso (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter Milan), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta).
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), Michael Folorunsho (Hellas Verona), Davide Frattesi (Inter Milan), Jorginho (Arsenal), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Samuele Ricci (Torino).
Forwards: Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Mateo Retegui (Genoa), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).
A date to submit a final 26-member squad is June 4 and Italy will be forced to cut three players from their preliminary squad. Italy are scheduled to play a friendly game against Turkey on June 4 and are expected to confirm their team based on the performance.
