Three years ago, Ciro Immobile was a key player for Italy during their magical championship run at the UEFA Euro in England. However, the sensational forward couldn’t be part of the Qatar 2022 World Cup as the famous Azzurri failed to qualify for the tournament.

Then, as part of a new process under coach Luciano Spalletti, Immobile was named captain to replace Leonardo Bonucci and his presence on the Euro 2024 at Germany seemed almost a lock.

However, in a shocking turn of events, the legend of Lazio won’t play for Italy trying to defend the European title in a very complicated Group B alongside Spain, Croatia and Albania.

Furthermore, it’s important to remember that Italy are not favorites to hoist the trophy. Teams like France, England or Portugal are ahead with names such as Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ciro Immobile won’t play in UEFA Euro 2024 (Getty Images)

Ciro Immobile won’t play in UEFA Euro 2024 (Getty Images)

Why is Ciro Immobile not playing the UEFA Euro 2024 with Italy?

Ciro Immobile is out of UEFA Euro 2024 with Italy due to a tactical decision by coach Luciano Spalletti. This season, the forward only scored seven goals in Serie A for Lazio and was not decisive in recent national team call-ups.

Faced with this scenario, Spalletti decided to rely on players in better form such as Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Stephan El Shaarawy (AS Roma), Mateo Retegui (Genoa) and Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio).