Moise Kean has been left out of the Italy squad for the upcoming international break as a way of “punishment”, according to Roberto Mancini.
The 19-year old joins Roma’s Nicolo Zaniolo on missing out on joining up with the Azzurri after the duo were late to a team meeting earlier this summer.
Italy boss Mancini claims that “professionals must always behave well”, with his comments coming just days after pundit Graeme Souness postulated that Kean’s “off the field activities” weren’t the best.
Speaking at a press conference, Mancini had this to say (via Mirror Sport) on Kean’s omission:
My team is already quite defined. If any interesting new faces came forward, we’d make them available to us. We’ll see what happens between now and the start of the European Championship.
Here we are with the players who have been called up. If someone sensational breaks out, we’d gladly call them up.
I’m sure they’ll [Kean and Zaniolo] come in handy later on. I don’t like leaving them behind as punishment, they’re still young.
We gave them a great opportunity and we hope this helps them going forward. They must learn to behave well. Professionals must always behave well.
Mancini also said (via The Washington Post) that the matter was nothing serious, just that it was a case of education needed for the duo. Mancini said:
They didn’t do anything too serious but it will help them for the future, to know how to behave when they’re away from home for 40 days.
Kean was a big money signing for Everton this summer, and he has been seen by many as one of the most exciting Premier League signings.
At just 19, the Italian has bags of potential just waiting to be tapped into, and Everton fans will be hoping they begin to see his goalscoring prowess realised soon.
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It’s a real shame to see that Kean has had his attitude called into question for the second time this week, because prior to the Wolves game there had been very little said about the forward’s application.
Kean is a promising star and he won’t be away from the Italian squad for long, but maybe it will do him some good to miss out, if indeed there are issues with his professionalism.
Kean is still young, of course, and he wouldn’t be the first player, neither will he be the last to underestimate the importance of professionalism both in football in general and in representing his country. It’s a learning curve, and if anything that Juventus fans and experts have said is to be believed, it won’t take him long to get to grips with things.
