The name Alessandro Romano probably doesn’t mean much to you. The 20-year-old from Zurich, trained in Winterthur then at AS Roma from 2022, has been in the spotlight in Italy since this weekend. The defensive midfielder, on loan to Cagliari from the capital club, scored his first goal in Serie A for his first start. His superb strike allowed the Sardinians to launch their season perfectly (1-0 victory against Parma).
Alessandro Romano’s talent has been known for a long time in Switzerland. He has played with the various national youth teams since the under-16 level. However, he has never yet been called up by Murat Yakin to play with the Nati. Which is rather logical, since before this 2026-2027 season, he had only made two brief appearances in Serie A with AS Roma.
Italy, absent from the last three editions of the World Cup, would like to take advantage of this situation to outdo Switzerland and steal Alessandro Romano. Of Italian origin, he has a transalpine passport and could represent the Squadra Azzurra.
Football journalist Nicolò Schira wrote on his X account that Roberto Mancini was present in Parma to “monitor Alessandro Romano, who is among the candidates for the Nations League matches in September”.
Several Italian media, including the “Gazzetta dello Sport”, have launched their campaign for the coach to call Alessandro Romano at the next rally. Asked about his international future, the player did not close the door to either selection. “We talked about it, but for now, the situation suits me. It’s not a priority.”
ASF criteria for binational players
With Alessandro Romano, the theme of binational players in the Swiss team returns to the forefront. In September 2025, Pierluigi Tami, the director of the national teams, said this after the Nati had lost Leon Avdullahu (Kosovo) and Eman Kospo (Bosnia-Herzegovina): “The ASF has precise criteria. The first is that the player is good enough. The second is that of our values, with which he must identify. The third criterion is patience.
It remains to be seen whether Alessandro Romano will have the necessary patience or whether he will give in to the lure of the quadruple world champion.
