Spalletti confirms Liverpool’s Chiesa ‘in our thoughts’ ahead of Italy squad decision

Italy national team head coach Luciano Spalletti has confirmed that Liverpool and former Juventus winger Federico Chiesa is ‘in our thoughts’ ahead of the upcoming squad announcement for October’s Nations League fixtures.

Italy will play Belgium and Israel on October 10 and 14 respectively, having picked up back-to-back wins against France and Israel in the Nations League group stage earlier in September.

Though Spalletti has not made any guarantees, he confirmed that both Chiesa and Napoli forward Matteo Politano, who both missed out on the squad last time, are under consideration for a return.

Spalletti confirms Chiesa under consideration for Italy return

“We have decided to rejuvenate the team as much as we can, but these two are still of an accessible age and they are also in our thoughts,” Spalletti said, speaking to reporters at a charity event in Naples on Monday.

He went on to explain that he expects a lot from his strikers after tweaking his set-up to provide a more settled system in September.

“We have to be careful, because we rely more on the two strikers after changing the way we play. (We need) players who know how to do a bit of everything on the pitch, showing the willingness to take on the responsibility of multiple roles as well.

“With that in mind, midfielders are the ones who are able to develop best in that way, so we will continue like that. We’ll move forwards with a striker, a second striker, with a deep build-up of five players at the back.”

Spalletti has also confirmed that youngsters Daniel Maldini and Niccolo Pisilli are on the preliminary squad list for Italy’s upcoming Nations League matches.