Nicolò Fagioli’s performance against Inter has raised questions on why the Juventus midfielder was not called up by Roberto Mancini, who, instead, has given a chance to 17-year-old Simone Pafundi, who has only played nine minutes in Serie A for Udinese this term.
Fagioli, 22, has become a regular starter at Juventus this season, scoring two goals and delivering five assists in 26 appearances across all competitions. On Sunday, he was one of the best players at the Stadio Meazza when the Old Lady secured a 1-0 win over bitter rivals Inter.
Mancini had already explained why he would not have called the Bianconeri midfielder in an interview with DAZN last week.
“We have no problems in midfield. We have problems in attack, and some problems in defence, but we are covered in midfield,” said the CT.
Bryan Cristante, Davide Frattesi, Nicolò Barella Jorginho, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Matteo Pessina, Sandro Tonali and Marco Verratti are the central midfielders available for the Azzurri in the next two matches against England and Malta.
Fagioli made his senior Italy debut in November 2022 after six caps with the U21 squad.
He was snubbed by Mancini this time, but the coach has once again called Udinese’s Pafundi. Eyebrows were raised when Mancio released his squad list last week as the 17-year-old has only made two Serie A appearances for Udinese this season, playing nine minutes overall.
Pafundi can play in central midfield but is mainly an attacking midfielder and Mancini explained his decision during Monday’s press conference, attended by Football Italia at Coverciano.
“We first picked Pafundi and then all the others. He has incredible quality, and I want him to train with senior players, we believe in his quality,” he said.
“At my time, emerging champions were playing at 17 in Serie A and now we hope he can become an important player for the future of the national team.”
Mancini has often complained about the lack of playing time for young Italian players in Serie A. He did the same on Monday, blaming Italian clubs for not giving a chance to Wilfried Gnonto, who is now playing regularly for Leeds United in the Premier League.
The CT’s decision to pick Pafundi for the next two games goes precisely in this direction. At this moment, the player is stuck in a limbo where he’s too good to play and train with Udinese’s Primavera team, where he has scored two goals in eight appearances this term, but at the same time, he doesn’t seem experienced enough to play regularly in Serie A.
“I understand that when things don’t go well, coaches are the first ones to pay. So I must find solutions,” Mancini said on Monday, generally speaking about the selection crisis he’s facing and not directly referring to Pafundi and Udinese.
Ultimately, Fagioli already has senior experience under his belt, playing regularly in Serie A and Europa League for Juventus. He trains daily in one of the best teams in Italy and Mancini will surely give him a chance when he is 100% ready.
On the other hand, Pafundi isn’t playing much, and Mancini wants him to learn as quickly as possible, training with the best players in the country with the Azzurri’s senior team.
Italian football is still going through a challenging moment despite having three Serie A clubs in the Champions League quarter-finals this season. The CT believes football in the Peninsula “isn’t reborn” so he needs to be creative in finding and developing young players, especially in attack.
This is the main reason Pafundi was called up, contrary to Fagioli, not to mention that Mancio has many options in midfield with quality players who have plenty of international experience, including many who won the Euros with the Azzurri less than two years ago.
Pafundi also made his senior Italy debut in November 2022 and will be available for Monday’s training session at Coverciano.
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