Mohamed Ali Zoma: Italy's Next Rising Star Under Mancini
Roberto Mancini is poised to make his mark on Italy’s new era, and one of the most intriguing names on his radar is lighting it up far from Serie A.
Mohamed Ali Zoma, the 22-year-old winger tearing through the 2. Bundesliga with 1. FC Nürnberg, is edging closer to a first call-up for the Azzurri ahead of a marathon Nations League block in September and October.
Mancini’s second coming, Italy’s reset
Italy’s upcoming schedule is brutal: Belgium, Turkiye, France, then Turkiye again in an extended two-week international window. They are Mancini’s first matches back at the helm after he was brought in this summer to replace Gennaro Gattuso as CT.
The context is stark. Italy are still reeling from a disastrous calendar year that ended with them missing out on the 2026 World Cup. This squad is expected to carry scars, but also change. Big change.
Mancini is widely tipped to use this window to refresh the group, clear out underperformers and move aggressively for dual-national talents before other federations pounce.
That is where Zoma comes in.
From Merate to Nürnberg – and now the Azzurri?
Born and raised in Merate, Zoma is Italian by upbringing but remains eligible for Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast through his parents. The tug-of-war over his international future is no longer hypothetical; it is active and live.
Zoma came through at AlbinoLeffe, where he featured for both the youth and senior sides in Serie C, before Nürnberg spotted an opportunity and moved last summer. The German club paid around €1.5m to bring him into the 2. Bundesliga.
It already looks like a bargain.
Last season he exploded: 19 goal involvements in the league – 14 goals and five assists – from just 29 appearances. This campaign he has started even faster, with five goals in his first five league games of 2026-27.
Those numbers have not gone unnoticed.
A €20m asset and a race against time
Sky Sport DE reporter Florian Plettenberg has reported that clubs circled late in the summer transfer window, sensing a potential steal. Nürnberg, though, refused to budge. They are said to value Zoma at around €20m and made it clear he was not for sale.
The player himself has confirmed that the interest which really matters right now is coming from Coverciano.
“It’s true, Roberto Mancini and I have spoken. He said that he is keeping an eye on me and that I should keep going like this, and then we’ll see,” Zoma told Sky.
Those are not casual words. That is a national coach laying down a pathway.
Reports in Italy suggest the breakthrough is close. Tuttosport describes an Italy call-up as “increasingly close” for the Nürnberg winger, while TMW goes a step further and predicts he will be named in the next Azzurri squad.
If Mancini does pull the trigger, Italy will not just be adding one of the 2. Bundesliga’s most exciting attackers. They will be winning a decisive battle in the new era of globalised talent – and perhaps unveiling the face of their rebuild after the pain of 2026.
