Italian journalist Umberto Chiariello says Leeds United attacker Wilfried Gnonto does not deserve to be in the Italy squad.
Chiarello was speaking on Radio Napoli Centrale, via Tutto Napoli, where he claimed Italy’s recent struggles are due to players like Gnonto and Aston Villa’s Nicolo Zaniolo being called up.
Gnonto has been a staple in Italy’s squad ever since his debut in June 2022 and has already been handed 12 senior caps before he has hit the age of 20.
He has scored one goal and provided two assists in that time but is currently the only player from a second tier club to have made the squad.
That is despite Italy having overseen a managerial change in the last few weeks with Luciano Spalletti having replaced Roberto Mancini in the dugout.
Journalist says Gnonto does not deserve to be in Italy squad
Since winning the EUROs in 2021, Italy have endured a desperately poor run of results and have a lot of work to do if they are to qualify for next summer’s tournament.
Journalist Chiariello says the reason for Italy’s recent form is because of players like Gnonto getting a call-up, claiming he doesn’t ‘deserve a blue shirt’.
He said: “I talked about the Italian national team, which in my opinion is struggling to do well because it doesn’t have a quality player pool at its disposal. I criticised the call up of players like Nicolò Zaniolo and Wilfried Gnonto, who, in my opinion, don’t deserve a blue shirt.”
This feels extremely harsh given that Gnonto is often tasked with the role of being an impact sub, and so perhaps the Italian press would be better criticising those who start matches regularly.
Gnonto has also quite frequently looked Italy’s most dangerous player in his cameos off the bench, in particular when they were beaten by England in March.
This feels like an attack on Gnonto more because of the division he is playing in with Leeds, rather than the performances he has put in.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
