Mancini’s Italy Squad: Shocking Calls and Notable Returns
Roberto Mancini’s first Italy squad arrives with a jolt. Daniel Maldini is in. Rolando Mandragora is back from the international wilderness. Marco Palestra, the Chelsea prospect many expected to see, is nowhere to be found.
Across a demanding Nations League schedule, the Azzurri will be tested quickly under their new era. Belgium await on September 25, Turkiye on September 28, France on October 2, then Turkiye again on October 5. The group stage closes later in the year: France on November 12, Belgium on November 15. It is a run that will reveal a lot about Mancini’s judgment—and his nerve.
Maldini In Despite Off-Field Storm
The boldest call surrounds Daniel Maldini. His football never left the conversation, but his name had been dragged into headlines for the wrong reasons after a car accident led to his licence being suspended when he tested narrowly over the alcohol limit.
There were doubts whether Mancini would want that noise around his first squad. He picked him anyway.
Reports had initially claimed Maldini failed a drugs test, an accusation that lingered before toxicology results wiped it away. All tests came back negative. Cagliari have stood firmly behind him and intend to start him in Serie A this weekend. Now the national team has followed suit, a clear signal that Mancini is prepared to judge the forward on footballing terms.
Palestra Left Waiting
On the other side of the ledger sits Marco Palestra. The Chelsea man had been widely tipped for a call-up when Mancini took charge, but his pre-season injury and lack of competitive minutes made his omission increasingly likely as the announcement approached.
In the end, the risk was too great. No debut yet for Chelsea, no place yet for Italy. For a player viewed as a long-term option, this feels more like a pause than a verdict, but for now he watches from afar while others seize the chance.
Familiar Faces Return
Mancini has not only looked to the future. He has reopened doors that had been shut for almost a year.
Both Nicolò Fagioli and Nicolò Zaniolo return after being frozen out since October 2024. For Fagioli, now with Fiorentina, this is a chance to build on his seven senior caps and re-establish himself in a crowded midfield. His technical quality has never been in doubt; his task now is to convince a new coach he can be trusted at this level.
Zaniolo’s story with the Azzurri has always carried a sense of drama. Mancini was the coach who first called him up before he had even played a single Serie A match. That gamble helped shape his reputation. He now stands on 19 caps, the latest coming in a friendly against Ecuador in March 2024, though his last competitive outing dates back to November 2023 against Ukraine. This recall offers him a fresh chapter, but also a reminder: his international career, once racing ahead, now needs to be rebuilt.
Mandragora’s Long Road Back
Then there is Rolando Mandragora, perhaps the most striking name on the list. The new Torino midfielder returns to the national team picture for the first time since March 2021, ending a gap of more than five years between call-ups.
His international record is almost a curiosity: one senior cap, earned in June 2018 in a 3-1 friendly defeat to France. Since then, injuries, form and competition pushed him to the margins. Now, at 29, he reappears under a coach willing to revisit old files and trust that experience and resilience can still add something to a reshaped squad.
A Squad With Edges, Not Comfort
Mancini has named nine new faces and sprinkled them around a core of players who know the shirt. The overall impression is of a coach unafraid of controversy, uninterested in safe, bland continuity.
He has backed Maldini in the face of scrutiny. He has resisted the temptation to fast-track Palestra before he is ready. He has reopened the door to Fagioli and Zaniolo, and reached deep into the past to pull Mandragora back into the present.
The Nations League will show whether this mix of risk, loyalty and long-memory selection can hold together under pressure—or whether this first squad becomes the moment we look back on as the start of something bolder for the Azzurri.
