Sunderland AFC striker Fabio Borini has been left out of Antonio Conte's preliminary Italy squad for this summer's Euro 2016 tournament.

Left out

The former Liverpool and Chelsea striker impressed at the Stadium of Light this season especially towards the back end as he was pivotal in helping keep the side afloat for their tenth consecutive top-flight season.

The striker only had one international cap going into this training camp and hadn't played since Conte's appointment in 2014 and will miss out once again as he is out of his preliminary 30-man squad.

Italy will take on Scotland and Finland in international friendlies ahead of traveling to France and Conte will still need to trim his squad down to 23 before the May 31 deadline.

Above: Sunderland's Emanuele Giaccherini in action for his loan club Bologna has been named in Antonio Conte's 30-man Italy squad | Photo: Gazzetta
Above: Sunderland's Emanuele Giaccherini in action for his loan club Bologna has been named in Antonio Conte's 30-man Italy squad | Photo: Gazzetta

Surprise inclusion

There have been some surprise exclusions from Conte's squad with Sebastian Giovinco and Andre Pirlo both missing out taking on Belgium, Sweden and Republic of Ireland.

However one surprise inclusion especially for North East fans with Emanuele Giaccherini been included in the squad after impressing on loan at Serie A side Bologna.

Giaccherini failed to impress on Wearisde after his move from Juventus but he has impressed in his home nation and is expected to leave Sunderland this season with Chelsea been rumoured as one of his destinations.

Preliminary Italy squad for Euro 2016:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti (Lazio), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Davide Astori (Fiorentina), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham), Daniele Rugani (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Manchester United), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Davide Zappacosta (Torino)

Midfielders: Marco Benassi (Torino), Giacomo Bonaventura (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Alessandro Florenzi (Roma), Emanuele Giaccherini (Bologna), Jorginho (Napoli), Riccardo Montolivo (Milan), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Parolo (Lazio), Stefano Sturaro (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Lazio)

Forwards: Eder (Inter), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Graziano Pellè (Southampton), Simone Zaza (Juventus), Federico Bernardeschi (Fiorentina), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma)

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Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.