‘The new one?’ Leonardo Bonucci doesn’t know Ivan Toney’s name ahead of England bow

The Three Lions take on Italy their penultimate Group A3 game in Milan on Friday evening.

Sports Staff
Friday 23 September 2022 05:02 EDT
Comments
Southgate, Kane - Players 'cannot do much more' than 'One Love' armband campaign

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Leonardo Bonucci labelled England new boy Ivan Toney "the new one" ahead of their potential meeting in Milan.

The Three Lions take on Italy in Nations League Group A on Friday evening in one of their penultimate tune-up before the World Cup in Qatar.

Following five goals this season, Gareth Southgate handed Brentford striker Toney a first call up to the national team this week.

Bonucci, though, is not too familiar with the 26-year-old.

“With Kane, we have played many matches against each other. I believe he is a great striker and among the best in the world,” he said when quizzed on England’s array of attacking options.

“And the new one? We will see. I watched some videos about him over these last few days and he is very talented.

“In England they have a great advantage as they have real talent thanks to the courage of Premier League clubs to make them play.”

Italy skipper Bonucci feels his side can use England's visit to Milan to gauge themselves following their failure to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.

He added: "It's going to be a very important match because it will tell us where we are in this rebirth, let's say.

"Because after failing to qualify for the World Cup the coach has changed many players, so tomorrow we will understand where we really are, where we need to improve and if there is something to improve.

"But I think this will be the best match possible to start again and to build something new and important for the future.

"England are a great team so we need to pay attention to their individual qualities because offensively they have very talented players, who can change the match in the blink of an eye."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in