Sampdoria’s 36-year-old striker Fabio Quagliarella has been included in Italy coach Roberto Mancini’s 32-man Italy squad for a training camp next week.
Quagliarella, who last played for Italy in a friendly against Romania more than eight years ago, is Serie A’s top scorer this season with 16 goals — one more than Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.
He has equalled Gabriel Batistuta’s Serie A record of scoring in 11 consecutive matches and joins Parma’s Alessandro Bastoni as one of two new faces in the squad.
Mancini will use the training camp to assess his options ahead of Italy’s 2020 qualifiers against Finland and Liechtenstein next month.
Injured Juventus defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini are absent, but Torino full-back Armando Izzo is part of the party.
Roma’s 19-year-old midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo, Juventus’ 18-year-old striker Moise Kean and Brescia’s 18-year-old midfielder Sandro Tonali are also included.