Italy desperately need Leeds United star Willy Gnonto back and available for selection after their dismal display against England on Tuesday (17 October).
The Azzurri were beaten 3-1 by the Three Lions at Wembley to potentially put their chances of qualifying for next year’s European Championships in doubt.
After the 19-year-old Whites winger has been ruled out through an ankle injury for the past few weeks, his country could do with him being back to fitness after their poor finishing in front of goal.
Gnonto has been a regular fixture in the Italy squad since he made his debut for the senior side against Germany in June 2022.
He has gone on to make a further 12 appearances for his country and was called up for the games in September despite Leeds dropping down to the Championship.
There had been suggestions that he may lose his spot in the national team after he didn’t manage to secure a move away from Elland Road over the summer, but that so far hasn’t proven to be the case.
The winger hasn’t played for the Whites since September 20 against Hull City, though, after he suffered ankle ligament damage and was forced off the field, meaning he was never going to be available for the latest internationals.
He may have been concerned about losing his spot in the squad, but following the performance of Italy against England, that looks unlikely to be the case.
Although the visitors had 12 shots in the game, they could only get three of those efforts on target as former West Ham forward Gianluca Scamacca found the back of the net on 15 minutes.
They were, however, extremely poor in front of goal from that moment onwards as they showed a real lack of quality in the final third.
Playing in Gnonto’s position on the left-hand side of the front three, Stephan El Shaarawy had a disappointing evening as he was handed the lowest rating of any of the attacking players at 6.5 by SofaScore.
The 30-year-old had just 41 touches, failed to register a single shot on target and completed just one of his three dribbles in the game before being subbed off for Riccardo Orsolini on 87 minutes.
That shows that Gnonto shouldn’t be too worried about losing his place in the Italy squad as he is an emerging talent with much more upside than the likes of El Shaarawy.
His main focus now, though, will be getting back fit so he can put in some top performances at Elland Road to back up why he should be included in the international squad once he is available again.
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