Luciano Spalletti and Italy have, on Monday, been dealt a fresh blow on the personnel front.
This comes in the form of confirmation that Manuel Locatelli has been forced to withdraw from the Azzurri’s latest squad.
Midfielder Locatelli, in the midst of a fine spell of form at club level with Juventus, was as expected included in Spalletti’s panel of stars named over the weekend.
After all of Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Calabria and Cristiano Biraghi were forced into respective departures from camp owing to injury, though, Locatelli has today followed suit.
The former Sassuolo man has picked up a displaced rib fracture, a problem discovered during a medical check at Coverciano.
He has as a result been ruled out of Italy’s upcoming meetings with both North Macedonia and Ukraine.
Not only that, but, according to SportMediaset, Locatelli is now a major doubt for Juventus’ top of the table showdown with Inter Milan on the far side of the international break.
The 25-year-old’s availability will be assessed based on his recovery over the next couple of weeks.
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Conor Laird | GIFN
