Reggio Neremiglia, Italy – June 9: Italy’s Giacomo Laspadri will celebrate at Citta ‘del Tricolore at Reggio Neremiglia, Italy on June 9, 2025 after scoring the opening goal in the FIFA 2026 qualifying between Italy and Moldova. (Photo: Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
This summer, the number of Italian internationals playing abroad, especially in the Premier League, has increased significantly, but is this helping or hindering Gennaro Gattuso’s work?
Natzioner had already struggled to compete in the 2026 World Cup. Luciano Spalletti plundered two games into the group, prompting Gatuso to arrive.
The situation could deteriorate even if Italian players completed a big buck move, as they didn’t spend regular time on the field at the club level.
Big moves do not guarantee playing time for Italian talent
Giacomo Raspadori and Matteo Ruggeri will become teammates of Atletico Madrid, but will they actually get more or less playing time than Napoli or Atalanta?
Diego Coppola certainly won’t draw a kind of attention to the Brighton and Hove Albion he went to at Hellas Verona, but Giovanni Leoni will know that the 35 million euro price tag will not guarantee that Liverpool will be chosen.
Even Riccardo Calfioli, a breakout star in Italy’s Euro 2024 campaign and scoring in Arsenal’s Premier League opening game this season, is not a regular in the first XI.
Federico Chiesa has also found the net last weekend and hopes that something different in Liverpool this season, but many of them always depend on fitness levels.
Perhaps the only Italian international featured regularly at the UK club level is Sandro Tonari, who went from strength to strength at Newcastle United.
Mateo Retegi was able to go to the Saudi Arabian professional league with Al-Qadusia, which is a completely different matter as it could be an afterthought from Azuri’s first choice.
Gattuso visited all of the Serie A clubs in the summer at pre-season training camp, but can he realistically keep up with players scattered throughout Europe?
If the problem was getting more regular playing time for those who could represent Italy, seeing them sitting on a more expensive bench is probably not the solution.
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