Arsenal appear to have been handed a new injury boost over Riccardo Calafiori during the international break.
The versatile defender replaced Piero Hincapie for the final 25 minutes of last Sunday’s 2-0 Carabao Cup final defeat by Manchester City at Wembley.
He did not appear to suffer an injury during that substitute cameo and joined up with the Italy squad ahead of their crunch World Cup play-off semi-final tie against Northern Ireland in Bergamo.
However, Azzurri boss Gennaro Gattuso revealed earlier this week that Calafiori had arrived in camp complaining of a “little pain”, but that he expected him to be available to play.
Calafiori himself later provided assurances that he was “fine”, though with the caveat that he would need to see how he progressed during training.
Any lingering fears among Arsenal fans over Calafiori’s fitness ahead of the season run-in now look to have been assuaged after he started for Italy against Northern Ireland on Thursday night.
The 23-year-old delivered an impressive display as he played on the left of a back three for the full 90 minutes at the New Balance Arena, where goals from Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean set up a final showdown away on Tuesday in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who held their nerve to beat Wales 4-2 on penalties in Cardiff following a tense 1-1 draw.
The winners of that game will qualify for this summer’s World Cup in North America, where they would be placed in Group B alongside Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
Four-time winners Italy are seeking to reach the finals for the first time since 2014, having missed out on both the 2018 and 2022 editions.
Arsenal will be relieved not to have any more injury concerns, with five players having withdrawn from international duty following the Carabao Cup final.
William Saliba pulled out of France duty for games against Brazil and Colombia with an ankle complaint, while centre-back partner Gabriel did not link up with Brazil’s squad in the United States because of knee pain.
Leandro Trossard did not go away with Belgium due to an unspecified knock, with Jurrien Timber also replaced in the Netherlands squad after an ankle problem ruled him out against City.
Timber and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, who was not called up by Norway amid a lingering knee injury, should both be back soon, though Eberechi Eze withdrew from the England squad and could now miss between four to six weeks with a calf issue that forced him to sit out at Wembley.
Mikel Merino is a long-term absentee following surgery on a rare and serious foot bone injury, and is aiming to recover in time for the World Cup with Spain.
