MILAN, May 23: Nicolò Fagioli has been included in Italy’s provisional squad for the European Championship despite having only just returned from a seven-month ban for betting violations.
Luciano Spalletti named 30 men on Thursday for Italy’s defense of its title.
Fagioli was suspended in October and also had to undergo treatment for a gambling addiction. The Juventus midfielder made his return as a substitute on Monday in a 3-3 draw against Bologna.
Fagioli played in six of Juventus’ eight Serie A matches before the ban and is considered one of Italy’s top young midfielders.
Ciro Immobile was left out. The 34-year-old had been Italy’s go-to man at center forward for years but has never performed as well with the national team as he has at Lazio.
Four players will need to be cut from the squad by June 6. The Euros kick off in Germany on June 14.
Italy starts its title defense against Albania in Dortmund the following day. Spain and Croatia are also in Group B.
Before departing for Germany, Italy plays warmup matches against Turkey on June 4 and Bosnia-Herzegovina five days later.
ITALY SQUAD
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), Nicolò 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). (PTI)
