Italy coach Roberto Mancini wants Lazio defender Luiz Felipe to join the Italian national team.
As reported by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport (via La Lazio Siamo Noi) earlier today, the Azzurri coach is considering new ideas ahead of his team’s decisive 2022 World Cup qualifying playoffs in March and one of these is the 24-year-old Brazilian defender.
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Luiz Felipe, who already has dual citizenship, was summoned by Luigi Di Biagio for the Italy Under-21 squad back in 2019 but the invitation was declined.
At the time, the 24-year-old Lazio defender apologised and admitted that he wanted to try to earn a call up to the Brazilian national team.
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With that call-up still not arriving yet, Mancini may be able to convince Luiz Felipe to accept an Azzurri invitation and join teammates Ciro Immobile and Francesco Acerbi in the squad.
If Luiz Felipe does decide to accept Italy’s offer, he could be part of the squad by the end of January, assuming the bureaucratic issues are resolved smoothly.