Former Italy midfielder Riccardo Montolivo has expressed concern about the mental state of Gennaro Gattuso’s squad ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup playoff final against Bosnia, calling on the players to approach the match with freedom rather than anxiety.

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Speaking to Sky Sport, via TuttoMercatoWeb, Montolivo pointed to Italy’s nervy start against Northern Ireland as a warning sign.

“I am a little concerned about the morale of our players,” he said.

“The team must not start as tense as they did against Northern Ireland, they need to be loose. That is the key issue, and we are also playing away from home. The manager will have to work on the players’ mindset.”

Montolivo: ‘I’d like to see Pio Esposito start for Italy’

On potential selection changes, Montolivo backed Pio Esposito for a starting role.

“I would like to see him from the first minute,” he said, though he acknowledged the value of an impact substitute, noting that those who come off the bench are often more decisive than those who start.

In midfield, Montolivo saw no reason to change personnel, defending Manuel Locatelli despite some early difficulties in the Northern Ireland match.

“He is having an excellent season and deserves his place in the national team,” he said.

“The other night he had some early difficulties but it was purely a tactical issue to adjust, nothing more.” He suggested any tweaks should be positional rather than involving personnel changes.

Tuesday’s World Cup playoff final against Bosnia in Zenica carries enormous consequences beyond the pitch, with prominent journalist Giancarlo Padovan warning that a third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup could trigger a complete overhaul of the FIGC’s senior leadership.

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Speaking on Radio Radio, via CalcioMercato, Padovan was unequivocal.

“I think that if Italy fail to qualify for the World Cup, the federation would be placed under external administration for a year with the current leadership wiped out,” he said.

FIGC boss Gravina in trouble if Italy miss out on World Cup

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina is the most prominent figure under threat.

Despite overseeing back-to-back World Cup absences, he was re-elected recently, running unopposed, and has so far survived significant pressure to step down.

A third consecutive failure to reach the tournament would make his position almost certainly untenable, according to Padovan, with other senior officials around him also at risk.

Italy face Bosnia knowing that only a victory will secure their place at the 2026 World Cup in North America.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side won their semi-final against Northern Ireland and now stand one match away from ending a painful absence from the global stage.

Defeat, however, would set in motion what Padovan describes as a fundamental reset of Italian football’s governing structures.

Mario Giuffredi, one of Italian football’s most prominent agents, has spoken at length about several of his clients ahead of Italy’s World Cup playoff final against Bosnia, touching on Pio Esposito’s potential starting role, Matteo Politano’s remarkable evolution and Giovanni Di Lorenzo’s injury timeline.

On the question of whether Pio Esposito should start in Bosnia, Giuffredi was careful not to overstep, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb.

“Gattuso will know how to make the right choices for the good of the national team, he does not need advice from anyone,” he said. “Pio Esposito is a boy with great personality. If he is called upon from the first minute, he will approach this match the same way he approaches every game, with simplicity. That is one of his qualities.”

After Pio Esposito comments, Giuffredi talks Napoli contingent

Politano, who impressed alongside Tonali in the win over Northern Ireland, drew particularly enthusiastic praise from his agent.

“When he was at Inter he was not mentally ready for the sacrifice his current role demands,” Giuffredi said. “Now he is more predisposed, mature, and he has accepted playing as a complete wide midfielder. He and Tonali were the best players on the pitch against Northern Ireland. The longer time goes on, the stronger he becomes, which is unusual, because most players’ performances start to decline.”

Di Lorenzo will not travel to Bosnia, having already made a significant personal sacrifice to attend the Northern Ireland match in Bergamo while managing a serious injury.

“He left after his afternoon therapy sessions and returned to Naples at 6am the next day,” Giuffredi revealed. The agent expressed hope that his client could return to action in the final week of April.

On Antonio Vergara, another Napoli client who has broken into Conte’s plans this season, Giuffredi expressed frustration that injury had struck at precisely the wrong moment. “He could have received a national team call-up. The timing of the injury is particularly unfortunate.” A contract renewal is expected to be discussed at the end of the season.

Giuffredi also reserved special praise for Torino loanee Luca Marianucci, a former Napoli academy product. “I believe he will be part of Italy’s future,” he said firmly. “I have said the same about Hysaj, Mario Rui, Di Lorenzo and Politano over the years, and I have rarely been wrong about players from Napoli.”

Ardon Jashari has opened up on his settling-in period at Milan since arriving from Club Brugge in January, paying warm tribute to Massimiliano Allegri’s influence while outlining his personal ambitions at San Siro.

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The Swiss midfielder, who has been gradually integrating into Allegri’s squad since his winter move, was effusive in his praise for the Milan head coach in an interview with Il Foglio.

“He is a master for me, I try to learn as much as possible from him,” Jashari said, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb.

“He has great experience and speaks to me often. He tells me to get forward more, to play with intensity and to shoot when the opportunity arrives. He pushes me to improve even in training.”

Jashari: ‘I’m at Milan to win – for myself, the team and the fans’

The midfielder also acknowledged that his positional role has evolved significantly in recent years, suggesting Allegri’s guidance has been particularly valuable in helping him adapt.

His ambitions at the club are refreshingly straightforward.

“I am here to win, for myself, for the team, for the supporters,” he said. “I want to give my maximum every day, with enthusiasm and professionalism. I hope to wear this shirt for many more years.”

On the immediate priorities, Jashari was equally clear. Milan currently sit second in Serie A, six points behind Inter with eight games remaining, and the Swiss international knows what the minimum requirement looks like.

“We must think game by game, our objective is to return to the Champions League among the most important clubs in Europe,” he said. “We know we have to work hard, but that does not scare us.”

Manuel Akanji has delivered a confident and unambiguous message to Inter’s title rivals as the season enters its final stretch, insisting the Nerazzurri are focused solely on themselves and fear nobody in the race for both the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia.

The Swiss defender spoke to Sportmediaset, via CalcioMercato, following Switzerland’s thrilling 4-3 friendly defeat to Germany, a result that raised eyebrows despite the loss, but his mind is clearly already fixed on the decisive weeks ahead with Inter.

Cristian Chivu’s side sit six points clear at the top of Serie A with their nearest rivals closing in, and face a Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against Como at San Siro that could book their place in the final at the Stadio Olimpico.

Akanji: ‘Inter are not afraid of anyone’

Akanji was refreshingly direct when asked about the pressure of leading the title race.

“We are focused only on ourselves,” he said. “We don’t look at our opponents and above all we are not afraid of anyone, we just have to win our matches and if we do, we will be champions.”

He laughed as he delivered the line, but the conviction behind it was unmistakable.

On the Coppa Italia, Akanji was equally bullish.

“We want to win both competitions that remain, the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia,” he said. “In Serie A we are first with a six-point lead and we want to stay there until the end. The same goes for the cup. We have a home game against Como and we hope to win there too and lift the trophy.”

For a squad that has been dominant for much of the campaign, the confidence feels entirely earned. Whether it translates into silverware over the coming weeks remains to be seen, but Inter are clearly in no mood to let either prize slip from their grasp.

Milan are set to allow Niclas Fullkrug to return to West Ham at the end of the season, with the club already scouting for a replacement striker despite the German’s buyout clause sitting at just €5 million.

The striker joined on loan in January as an emergency measure with Milan’s attack badly depleted, but has failed to make the impact the club hoped for.

A foot injury has hampered his progress throughout, and a single goal in 14 appearances, covering just 429 minutes of football, has done little to change minds at senior level.

Milan unlikely to trigger Fullkrug option after disappointing loan

According to transfer journalist Matteo Moretto, via CalcioMercato, Milan viewed the deal as a straightforward loan from the outset, with the purchase option only ever intended to be triggered in the event of an exceptional contribution.

That contribution has not materialised, and despite the remarkably low buyout fee, unusually modest given Fullkrug’s contract with West Ham runs until June 2028, the club are not prepared to exercise it.

The Rossoneri have already instructed their scouting network to identify a striker with similar physical characteristics for the summer window.

As for Fullkrug himself, a return to London looks the most likely immediate outcome, though a move back to Germany, particularly if former club Schalke earn promotion to the Bundesliga, has not been ruled out as a longer-term possibility.

His brief spell in Serie A will be remembered as one that never truly got off the ground.

Juventus and Dusan Vlahovic are edging closer to a contract renewal, but a formal meeting between all parties has yet to take place, and one is needed before any deal can be signed.

According to CalcioMercato, Vlahovic’s father Milos visited his son in Turin this week, but the timing did not align for a summit with the club, with CEO Damien Comolli abroad on scouting trips and international engagements.

Contract discussions therefore remained within the family circle, with a fresh meeting between all parties now expected before Easter.

The broad parameters of a deal are already understood by both sides.

Juventus will not go beyond the salary structure agreed with Kenan Yildiz in his recent renewal, meaning Vlahovic would need to accept a reduction to €6-7 million net per season, roughly half his current earnings.

In return, his entourage are pushing for a substantial signing-on bonus to offset the pay cut.

Juventus willing to give Vlahovic three-year extension

On contract length, there is agreement, a maximum of three years, potentially with an option in the club’s favour, replacing the five-year deal originally signed.

Vlahovic himself is understood to be genuinely open to staying.

A candid conversation with Luciano Spalletti, who has assured the Serbian striker of his central role in the attack going forward, has been pivotal in shifting his thinking.

Meanwhile, reported approaches from Barcelona and Premier League clubs have never materialised into concrete offers, with only Milan maintaining a communication channel without ever submitting a real proposal.

That lack of genuine alternatives strengthens Juventus’ hand in negotiations and could prove decisive.

Securing Vlahovic’s renewal would also free up what is expected to be a limited summer transfer budget for reinforcements in other positions, a practical consideration that makes the deal as important strategically as it is sporting.

A potential crisis is brewing at Napoli after Romelu Lukaku failed to return to the club following the international break with Belgium, opening what La Gazzetta dello Sport describes as a growing rift between the Belgian striker and the club.

For those with long memories, the situation carries uncomfortable echoes of previous episodes in Lukaku’s turbulent career, and Gazzetta has drawn the comparison explicitly, via CalcioNapoli, highlighting a pattern of behaviour that has surfaced at multiple clubs over the years.

The most striking parallel is with his departure from Manchester United in 2019.

Lukaku had been so determined to join Antonio Conte’s Inter that he engineered a dramatic exit from Old Trafford, making no secret of his desire to work with the Salento-born coach whom he has long regarded as a father figure.

That partnership delivered the Serie A title in 2020-21, albeit in the eerie silence of stadiums emptied by the Covid pandemic.

Lukaku & Conte relationship tense at Napoli

Now, with Conte once again his manager, this time at Napoli, the relationship that has defined Lukaku’s career appears to be under strain for the first time.

The Belgian’s decision to remain isolated in his homeland rather than report back to the club is being interpreted as a significant signal, particularly given that transfer windows are approaching and Lukaku has historically timed his periods of withdrawal to coincide with contract uncertainty.

Gazzetta’s verdict is blunt, Lukaku is a player capable of forming intense bonds with clubs and managers before abruptly reversing course when new opportunities arise.

Whether Conte can smooth things over with one of his most trusted attacking weapons remains to be seen, but the situation is one Napoli will need to resolve quickly with the season entering its decisive phase.