The motto for this training camp is turning a page but without forgetting what the Azzurri did eleven months ago at Wembley. After the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup, Roberto Mancini’s Italy side are back at the famous old ground in London to take on Argentina on Wednesday 1 June (20:45 CEST) in the Finalissima against the winners of the Copa America. The game is the meeting point of the old Italy and the new as we say goodbye to a legend in Giorgio Chiellini and welcome a few new guys into the fold. New challenges and new beginnings await the Azzurri, starting with the upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures.

 “Some of the players will go and rest after Wembley,” Mancini said in a press conference today, “while some will link up with their various age-group teams. Giorgio has made his decision and I’ll thank him again but it’s only right that he forges his own path.” Chiellini will be the only team to call an end to his international career after the game at Wembley: “Some of them might play their final game of the season and then return home – we’ll make a decision later – but nobody is as old as Giorgio.”

It’s not by chance that all of the Champions of Europe have been selected for this training camp, with the exception of the injured Chiesa, Castrovilli, Toloi and Immobile; Berardi also left the camp today (as did Pinamonti, who will have to wait a while longer for his Italy debut). It’s only right that the protagonists of the triumph last summer take to the field against Argentina, and not only in recognition of the fact that the Italy head coach wasn’t at fault for missing the World Cup: “We should’ve qualified directly given how well we played in the group. Unfortunately, some things didn’t go our way, as shown by the game against North Macedonia where it went against us a bit and then they scored in the 92nd minute by pumping it long. We have a young squad; the players not knowing each other wasn’t the issue.”

Talking about youth, after seeing them at work over the past couple of days, Mancini decided to add Gatti, Esposito, Ricci, Cancellieri, Gnonto and Zerbin to the squad: “We had a great three days. We got to observe over 50 players and they all did well; they have a big future. We hope they get to play. Those that have stayed aren’t doing so because they’re better than the others but because we want to get a closer look at them.” The hope is that this training camp can be the first stage in a renewed synergy between the Italy set-up and the national divisions and clubs. “When I was young,” Mancini recalled, “we were here at least once a month. I think we can do that again now.”

We need to focus on the here and now, starting from the upcoming Nations League fixtures, during which Italy will face two of the very best teams in the world: “It’s the toughest group. England and Germany are brilliant teams and Hungary, coached by an Italian [Marco Rossi], are a tough prospect. We can’t change the whole team but we can put in a few of the younger guys, who haven’t played as much. Playing against England, Germany and Hungary will be a good experience.”

Getting back to winning ways would help the Azzurri to regain a bit of morale: “A coach is loved when he wins and much less so when he loses. I see that people still have the Euros in their minds so most people say nice things when I meet them. That helped with the disappointment but the difference is we didn’t deserve to not qualify. We need to go again and be stronger than ever.”

Squad list

Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Salvatore Sirigu (Genoa);
Defenders: Francesco Acerbi (Lazio), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Davide Calabria (Milan), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Emerson Palmieri Dos Santos (Olympique Lyonnais), Alessandro Florenzi (Milan), Federico Gatti (Frosinone), Manuel Lazzari (Lazio), Luiz Felipe (Lazio), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma);
Midfielders: Nicolò Barella (Inter), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Salvatore Esposito (SPAL), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo), Jorginho Frello Jorge Luiz (Chelsea), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Atalanta), Tommaso Pobega (Torino), Samuele Ricci (Torino), Sandro Tonali (Milan), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain);
Forwards: Andrea Belotti (Torino), Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus), Matteo Cancellieri (Verona), Gianluca Caprari (Verona), Wilfried Gnonto (FC Zurich), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Moise Bioty Kean (Juventus), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Sassuolo), Gianluca Scamacca (Sassuolo), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio), Nicolò Zaniolo (Roma), Alessio Zerbin (Frosinone).