Spalletti reveals his greatest all-time XI: Salah and Totti, but no Osimhen or Lobotka

Former Italy CT and soon-to-be Juventus head coach Luciano Spalletti has recently revealed his personal all-time greatest XI of players he has previously worked with, naming some legendary players including the likes of Mohamed Salah and Francesco Totti among his selections. 

Spalletti is set to be appointed as the new head coach of Juventus following the recent departure of Igor Tudor. 

The 2022-23 Scudetto winner is expected to sign a short-term contract until the end of the 2025-26 season with an option or potentially an obligation to renew if Juventus qualify for next season’s Champions League. 

Speaking at the recent Festival dello Sport in Trento, Spalletti revealed his all-time greatest XI of players he has previously worked with, but found it difficult to name just one player in certain positions. 

That was the case in goal, where he could not decide between Alisson Becker and Wojciech Szczesny: “Two great goalkeepers, both good with their feet,” he said. “It’s always been difficult to leave one out. One always played in the cups and the other in the league.

Alisson and Szczesny get the nod over the likes of Samir Handanovic or Scudetto-winner Alex Meret. 

At right-back, Spalletti chose the captain of his Scudetto-winning Napoli side, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who has since gone on to win the league title again in 2024-25. He could have chosen Joao Cancelo or Alessandro Florenzi in that position. 

Spalletti decided to select one centre-back from Napoli and one from Inter, namely Kalidou Koulibaly and current Nerazzurri head coach Cristian Chivu. Antonio Rudiger, Kim Min-Jae and Kostas Manolas are among the notable centre-backs that Spalletti did not pick. 

At left-back, Spalletti went with Marek Jankulovski, whom he coached at Udinese. 

Spalletti selected two Giallorossi midfielders in his all-time XI. There was no way he was ever going to leave out Daniele De Rossi, nor David Pizarro, who get the nod over the likes of Stanislav Lobotka, Radja Nainggolan and Marcelo Brozovic. 

Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah, whom Spalletti coached at Roma, is the chosen selection on the right wing. Another Scudetto winner in Khvvicha Kvaratskhelia was chosen on the opposite flank to Salah. 

The most obvious selection of the team is at no.10, with the inclusion of Giallorossi and Italy legend Francesco Totti. 

And, despite the fact that he could have chosen Victor Osimhen, Mauro Icardi or Lautaro Martinez at centre-forward, Spalletti decided to go with Edin Dzeko: “He was the player who had everything for me at Roma, quality and physicality,” he said. 

(4-2-3-1): Alisson/Szczesny; Di Lorenzo, Koulibaly, Chivu, Jankulovski; De Rossi, Pizarro; Salah, Totti, Kvaratskhelia; Dzeko.