Eleven uncapped players in one squad announcement. If La Gazzetta dello Sport's reporting holds, Gennaro Gattuso's first Italy squad for the June window won't just signal a new era — it'll slam the door on the old one.
According to Football Italia, citing La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy are expected to include at least 11 uncapped players in their June international window squad. That's not a refresh. That's a rebuild with the scaffolding still up.
The context matters here. Italy missed the 2018 World Cup entirely, scraped through to 2022 qualification only to fall at the play-off stage, and are now preparing for a 2026 tournament on home soil — well, co-home soil — with Gattuso newly installed as the man tasked with making the Azzurri worth watching again. A wave of new faces in June would be the most visible statement yet that the old guard's grip on the squad is loosening.
The specific list of those 11 uncapped players hasn't been confirmed or detailed in available reporting, so names will have to wait for the official announcement. What the Gazzetta report does suggest is that Gattuso and his staff are casting the net wide — prioritising potential and form over reputation. That alone is a shift in philosophy worth noting.
Italy have had no shortage of talented players operating at the top of Serie A and across Europe's major leagues. The question has always been whether the national team structure was willing to back them early enough. Apparently, the answer is now yes.
Separately — and this is the sidebar worth watching — Gianluigi Donnarumma is reported to have made contact with Gattuso's assistant Massimo Baldini, according to the same Football Italia report. The nature of that call isn't clear, and it could easily be routine communication between a senior player and new coaching staff rather than anything more loaded.
But Donnarumma reaching out at all is telling. He's 26, still the undisputed first choice at PSG, and by any measure should be the cornerstone of this rebuild rather than a casualty of it. The fact he's apparently making sure that's understood — even informally — says something about how unsettled the transition feels from the inside.
He didn't wait to be called. He called first.
The official squad announcement will confirm how dramatic this overhaul actually is. Eleven uncapped players would make it one of the most significant Italy selections in years — not just a changing of the guard but a wholesale rewrite of the guest list. Gattuso has inherited a project that needs momentum fast, with the World Cup less than 18 months away. June is where that momentum either starts or stalls.
Eleven uncapped players in one squad announcement. If La Gazzetta dello Sport's reporting holds, Gennaro Gattuso's first Italy squad for the June window won't just signal a new era — it'll slam the door on the old one.
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