Italy national team coach Giampiero Ventura has called Manchester United's decision to delay releasing Matteo Darmian for international duty "bizarre."
Darmian, 27, is done with his club commitments at Old Trafford after helping the team win their final match of the season against Ajax in the Europa League final.
However, United have not given the defender permission to join up with the national team until June 5, according to Ventura, meaning they'll be without Darmian for a May 31 friendly against San Marino.
�� | #Ventura has named a 26-man squad for the upcoming fixtures with #Uruguay and #Liechtenstein.
�� https://t.co/0PU6jsAPH0#VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/ELNVYC85Hi- Italy (@azzurri) May 27, 2017
"I'd also add Darmian, he doesn't have permission from United to come to us until June 5," Ventura told reporters on Tuesday.
"A bizarre choice, as he's been stopped since the Europa League final, and I think we've lost him for the Uruguay game too. A bizarre choice.
"We're not going to cry though, we've lost many players over the months but locally we have a lot of youngsters thanks to the training camps.
"[Andrea] Conti, [Danilo] D'Ambrosio and [Leonardo] Spinazzola will be important for us in the upcoming matches."
Ventura is unsure if Darmian will be able to take part in the team's following friendly, a June 7 match against Uruguay, before the Azzurri host Liechtenstein in a UEFA World Cup qualifier in Udine on June 11.