Juventus’ Federico Chiesa could be set to play as a false 9 when Italy faces Spain in the Nations League tonight.
The Italians have no experienced centre forward in their squad with Andrea Belotti and Ciro Immobile out of the game through injury.
Moise Kean and Giacomo Raspadori are youthful striking alternatives, but their inexperience will be unuseful to the Azzurri against their Spanish opponents.
Football Italia says Roberto Mancini could now opt to set up his team with a false nine.
The report says the national team manager has already ruled out using Chiesa as a centre forward even though he has played in that role at Juventus and thrived.
Chiesa is likely to get the nod in attack with more freedom to roam just to confuse the Spanish defence.
However, Lorenzo Insigne, Lorenzo Pellegrini and Domenico Berardi could also be used in that role.
Interestingly, Spain also has a striker dilemma with Alvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno out of action for them.
La Roja will probably set up in a false 9 formation also to keep the Italian defence guessing during the game.
Italy is looking to win the Nations League to add to their Euro 2020 triumph earlier in the summer.