Luigi Di Biagio has named his squad that will play in the 2017 European U-21 championship qualifiers, whilst he has additionally thanked Serie A clubs for the recent output of Italian youngsters.
The Azzurrini will face Slovenia and the Republic of Ireland in their upcoming qualifiers and Di Biagio is confident that his players can achieve great heights.
“I do not know why players such as Daniele Rugani and Domenico Berardi haven’t been taken into account [by the senior national team],” Di Biagio told Sky Sport Italia.
“But we will be happy to let them go when the time comes.
“I think at youth level the development of the lads is more important than the results, and if these young guys move on up into the senior team then it means that we have done our job.
Hot prospects Federico Bernardeschi and the 18-year-old AC Milan full-back Davide Calabria have also been called up to the squad.
“We complain that these young guys don’t get to play, but when they do they are called up,” Di Biagio continued.
“We know Calabria and we know what he can give us, he is reliability guaranteed.
“In fact, we should applaud [AC Milan coach, Sinisa] Mihajlovic because he uses a lot of young players.
“In general, many teams buy foreign players and throw them onto the field immediately because of their price tag.
“Bernardeschi is also becoming a great player, he has improved a lot.
“With Paulo Sousa he is doing a great job and he is now able to play in multiple positions.”
The full Italy U-21 squad called up for the qualifiers is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Alessio Cragno (Cagliari), Ivan Provedel (Modena), Simone Scuffet (Como).
Defenders: Antonio Barreca (Cagliari), Arturo Calabresi (Livorno), Davide Calabria (Milan), Andrea Conti (Atalanta), Alex Ferrari (Bologna), Nicola Murru (Cagliari), Alessio Romagnoli (Milan), Daniele Rugani (Juventus).
Midfielders: Marco Benassi (Torino), Danilo Cataldi (Lazio), Alberto Grassi (Atalanta), Rolando Mandragora (Pescara), Valerio Verre (Pescara).
Forwards: Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Kingsley Boateng (Bari), Alberto Cerri (Cagliari), Gaetano Monachello (Atalanta), Vittorio Parigini (Perugia), Valerio Lorenzo Rosseti (Cesena).
