Five Italy internationals trying to impress for 2026 World Cup after January transfers

Several Italy internationals moved clubs during the January transfer window, but which ones will be hoping to earn more regular minutes ahead of a potential World Cup campaign in the summer of 2026? 

Giacomo Raspadori is back in Serie A after a short-lived, six-month spell in LaLiga with Atletico Madrid. The two-time Scudetto winner struggled to break into Diego Simeone’s first-team plans in the Spanish capital and was limited to just one start from a possible 18 league matches prior to his joining Atalanta. 

Raspadori has already featured in two Serie A matches for Atalanta, starting and scoring in their most recent match against Pisa, which ended in a resounding 4-0 victory for La Dea. 

He has already been a regular in Gennaro Gattuso’s Italy national team squad and now just needs a consistent run of games before becoming a sure-fire pick for the 2026 World Cup squad assuming that Italy qualify. 

It had been a disappointing season at Napoli for the towering centre-forward, who has since joined Nottingham Forest on loan with an option to buy. 

Napoli brought in both Lucca and Rasmus Hojlund to strengthen their options at centre-forward over the summer, but even after a serious injury to Romelu Lukaku the week before the season began, Lucca was limited to just four starts in Serie A and none since the end of October. 

It remains to be seen whether Lucca will become a regular starter in the Premier League under Sean Dyche, but if he is given regular minutes, he will certainly be an option for Gattuso to consider in Italy’s slightly understocked centre-forward department.

Another attacker hoping to impress ahead of the World Cup is Daniel Maldini, who joined Lazio on loan with a potential obligation to buy from Atalanta during the January window. 

The son of Italy legend Paolo Maldini was limited to just three Serie A starts with Atalanta during the first half of the season, but looks set to be handed more consistent opportunities under Maurizio Sarri at the Stadio Olimpico. 

There have even been suggestions that Sarri could look to deploy Maldini as a false nine. 

Another Italy international who left Atalanta in January was Brescianini, who has joined Fiorentina on loan with an option and potential obligation to buy. 

Brescianini has already earned more minutes over his first four games with Fiorentina than he had done in his last four months with Atalanta, earning his first league start since October during La Viola’s recent 2-1 loss against Napoli.

Brescianini still faces a difficult task to break into the Italy midfield department with stiff competition from the likes of Nicolo Barella, Sandro Tonali, Manuel Locatelli, Davide Frattesi, Bryan Cristante and Samuele Ricci.  

Diego Coppola has taken the decision to move away from the Premier League after six months on the south coast with Brighton and Hove Albion. He had to wait until December to earn his first starts in the English top flight, and has since joined Paris FC on loan, where he will team up with fellow Italy representatives Ciro Immobile and Luca Koleosho. 

Coppola has two Italy caps to his name at the age of 22, and will be hoping for more regular minutes in Ligue 1 to challenge the likes of Alessandro Bastoni, Alessandro Buongiorno, Riccardo Calafiori and Gianluca Mancini for a spot in a potential World Cup squad.