The warning signs have been flashing for years.
Former Napoli sporting director Mario Meluso opened Football Presse's "Italy's Crisis" series by arguing that structural failures and a lack of long-term planning have left Italy paying the price. Alberico Evani followed by warning that young players are no longer developing the technical quality and freedom that once made Italian football the envy of Europe.
Now another respected figure has added his voice to the debate.
Marco Sanna has spent virtually a lifetime inside Italian football. After making more than 300 appearances for Cagliari, the former defender returned to help develop the next generation and has remained deeply involved in youth football in Sardinia, where he continues to work with young players and coaches.
It gives him a unique perspective on why the Azzurri have struggled to rebuild after years of disappointment on the international stage.
Speaking exclusively to Football Presse, Sanna said Italian football still possesses talented youngsters, but believes they are not being given the environment needed to fulfil their potential.
"The quality is there," Sanna said. "But quality alone isn't enough. Young players need opportunities, they need patience and they need the right environment to grow.
"If you don't trust young players, they cannot gain experience. And without experience they cannot become players for clubs or for the national team."
His assessment echoes many of the concerns raised earlier this week by Meluso and Evani, although Sanna's conclusions come from years spent working directly with academy players rather than from the boardroom or the national team bench.
He believes one of the biggest problems in modern Italian football is the increasing demand for immediate success.
"In Italy we often expect immediate results," he explained. "Young players need time. They need to make mistakes, improve and continue learning.
"Every player develops differently. If you judge them too quickly, you risk losing talent before it has had the chance to mature."
Sanna believes that pressure has had a direct impact on opportunities for homegrown footballers. With clubs chasing instant results and increasingly turning towards experienced foreign signings, breaking through has become significantly more difficult for young Italians.
"It becomes much harder for young Italian players to find space," he said. "That is why it is important that clubs continue investing in academies, because that is where the future of Italian football begins.
"The academy isn't simply there to produce footballers. It has to produce players who are ready to represent the club for many years."
That philosophy closely mirrors the concerns raised by Meluso, who argued that Italian football needs structural reforms to encourage clubs to develop domestic talent. Sanna's focus, however, is equally on what happens inside the training ground every day. Having dedicated much of his post-playing career to youth development, he believes producing elite footballers is about far more than technical ability.
"The player has to grow as a footballer but also as a person," he said. "Education, discipline and mentality are fundamental.
"Talent is important, but character is what allows you to build a career."
Those values have shaped Sanna's own work since hanging up his boots.
As someone who came through the traditional Italian system before enjoying a distinguished Serie A career, he believes the country's football identity has always been built on developing intelligent, disciplined players capable of competing at the very highest level. He insists that identity can still be recovered.
"Italy has always produced great footballers," Sanna said. "That doesn't disappear overnight.
"We have to create the right conditions again. If we help young players properly, if we trust them and if we invest in them, Italian football will return."
His message provides another important piece of the picture emerging from Football Presse's "Italy's Crisis" series.
On Monday, Meluso argued that years of poor structural decisions have weakened the entire system. On Tuesday, Evani warned that young footballers are losing the technical education and freedom that once defined Italian football.
Now Sanna has taken the discussion back to where every successful generation begins.
The former Cagliari captain believes Italy's future will not be transformed by one coach, one federation president or one successful tournament.
It will be rebuilt through patience, education and a renewed belief in the country's own young footballers—a message that has become a common thread running through every conversation in Football Presse's exclusive series.