Samuele Inacio has had a breakthrough year for club and country. He first made the step up from BVB's youth side to their senior team earlier this year, and his steady rise translated into international call-up with Italy too.
Interim manager Silvio Baldini summoned the attacker, along with his club teammates Filippo Mane and Luca Reggiani, for their June friendlies where Inacio got his first taste of international football in a friendly against Luxembourg.
Having started the new season on a strong foot too, the 18-year-old earned another call-up, this time from Italy's new permanent manager Roberto Mancini, who named a squad that boasted an exciting mixture of young talents as well as seasoned professionals.
Inacio axed from matchday squad for Belgium fixture
Italy were in action against Belgium on Wednesday, but Inacio was conspicuous by his absence. Having named a 34-man squad for their quadruple Nations League header this autumn, Mancini had to trim it down to 23 for the game according to standard UEFA regulations.
Among the forwards he selected to face Belgium were Pio Esposito, Moise Kean, Giacomo Raspadori, Gianluca Scamacca, Daniel Maldini, Nicolo Cambiaghi and Mohamed Ali Zoma, while Inacio, Nicolo Zaniolo, Sebastian Esposito and Antonio Vergara were among the 11 players omitted from the matchday squad.
As disappointing as it must have been for the BVB fans, who were eager to see Inacio in action on the international stage again, the good news is that Mancini hasn't really closed the door on Inacio yet, nor is the player injured or suspended.
German news organization Sport1 specifically noted that Inacio's omission only applied to the Belgium fixture, as Mancini merely opted to go with more reliable attacking options; forwards who had garnered adequate gametime with their clubs this season or were in good form.
The good news is, Italy are still to play three fixtures in this international window: against Turkey (28 September), France (2 October) and Turkey again (5 October), so Inacio would still have considerable opportunities to play for the Azzurri.
He's been training with the squad since the players got together and appears to be in a fine fettle too. So, it's just a matter of time before Inacio is given a chance to play.
Perhaps, his raw-yet-formidable attacking qualities could inject some much-needed flair into their attacking vanguard after Italy struggled to put their chances away in a disappointing 2-0 loss against the Red Devils.
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