Luciano Spalletti has received an enormous double-boost on Friday, as he will likely have both Riccardo Calafiori and Giorgio Scalvini back at his disposal when Italy face Germany during the next international break.
Italy boost after Scalvini and Calafiori updates
Mikel Arteta confirmed during his pre-match press conference that Calafiori will be in the Arsenal matchday squad to face Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
The former Bologna centre-back missed the Gunners’ last five matches in all competitions before the international break, and was of course not involved for Italy’s most recent Nations League fixtures.
Even more miraculous is the recovery of Scalvini, who has been included in the travelling Atalanta squad for Saturday’s match against Parma in Serie A, just five months and 20 days after he ruptured his cruciate ligament (ACL) in the final minutes of the final game of the 2023-24 season.
Which centre-backs do Italy have at their disposal
Spalletti has a rare selection headache, in that he has three ‘top’ level left-footed centre-backs at his disposal in Alessandro Bastoni of Inter, Napoli’s Alessandro Buongiorno, and now Calafiori again as well.
Scalvini brings some balance as a natural right-footed centre-back, although Giovanni Di Lorenzo has excelled in his role in the back three after a tricky EURO 2024 campaign.
Also competing for positions at centre-back in the Italy squad are Matteo Gabbia of Milan, Federico Gatti of Juventus, Leicester City’s Caleb Okoli in the Premier League, Roma’s Gianluca Mancini, Inter veteran Francesco Acerbi, as well as the recently-called up Pietro Comuzzo, who is still only 19 years old himself.
With Spalletti religiously sticking by his back three, the returns of Calafiori and Scalvini provide an incredibly healthy set of options to choose from at the back.
