The door hasn’t been closed on Gonzalo Higuaín but when Gerardo Martino named his Argentina squad for the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers there was a clear indication that the 52-year-old was already planning for Russia 2018. As had been rumoured for a couple of days, Juventus’ Paulo Dybala replaced La Albiceleste’s sixth highest goal scorer of all time and joined the youthful faces of Matías Kranevitter and Ángel Correa, who remain in the squad after enjoying debuts in the recent friendly fixtures.

Since defeat to Chile in the Copa América final many have called for a shake-up in the Argentina squad and gradually it would appear that Gerardo Martino is taking a closer look at those young players that are pushing to usurp their older counterparts. Matías Kranevitter and Ángel Correa both impressed in the United States last month and will be given a further opportunity when Ecuador visit the Monumental on October 8th and Argentina travel to Paraguay five days later in the opening rounds of World Cup qualification.

In the previous squad there were many that felt that Martino still overlooked a number of the young attacking talents but for the upcoming matches, Tata has turned to 21-year-old Paulo Dybala. The former Instituto forward completed a move to Serie A champions Juventus over the summer for an initial fee of €32 million and has been courted by Italy in the absence of an international appearance. Martino’s call should end any doubt but Dybala’s place in the squad is on merit and not merely a case of securing his future service. Last season, for Palermo, Dybala announced himself as one of the most feared forwards in Europe and with Juventus losing Carlos Tevez, they splashed the cash to ensure they were not left short in attack. The youngster is yet to nail down a starting spot under Massimiliano Allegri but has already scored twice in three league appearances.

Higuaín has started the season in good form for Napoli but missed the previous friendlies with a fever and is still held accountable by some supporters for fluffing opportunites in both the World Cup Final and the Copa América Final. The fact that Pipita is fit and has already scored four Serie A goals this season but misses out on this squad ahead of competitive matches is significant. Carlos Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi retain their places but will be all too aware of the competition for these attacking places – Dybala could just be the latest with Mauro Icardi and Luciano Vietto the next obvious candidates knocking on the door.

Elsewhere in the squad, Ángel Di María, Lucas Biglia and Javier Pastore return from the injuries that forced them out of the United States tour and is there is also a recall for Valencia’s, Enzo Pérez. Pérez emerged as a key member of the group under Alejandro Sabella at the World Cup but injury meant that he fell out of favour. The 29-year-old, when fit and in form, provides certain qualities that are not readily available from Argentina’s midfield options – his high energy bustle allows Pérez to go box-to-box far more adeptly than the likes of Mascherano, Kranevitter or Biglia but is far more combatitive than Pastore.

Defence remains the area most short of options but Martino was able to name Ezequiel Garay and Pablo Zabaleta once more after injury and was obviously impressed enough with what he saw from Ramiro Funes Mori, Milton Casco and Emmanuel Más. Perhaps still the cause for concern is at full-back, where Argentina require modern defenders who are able to provide width and overlap the midfielders to provide width. Pablo Zabaleta has been a loyal servant to the national team but there is no natural replacement in the 27-man squad. Casco showed, albeit against woeful opposition, that he can cover but is naturally suited to the other flank and the jury is still well and truly out over Facundo Roncaglia.

Martino’s full plans will become apparent over the coming matches but at least with the inclusion of Dybala, Kranevitter and Correa, Argentina are already beginning to incorporate their biggest talents well ahead of Russia 2018.

Argentina squad

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero, Nahuel Guzmán, Agustín Marchesín
Defenders: Emmanuel Más, Facundo Roncaglia, Ezequiel Garay, Nicolás Otamendi, Marcos Rojo, Milton Casco, Ramiro Funes Mori, Martín Demichelis, Pablo Zabaleta
Midfielders: Éver Banega, Matías Kranevitter, Javier Mascherano, Lucas Biglia, Roberto Pereyra, Javier Pastore, Enzo Pérez, Nicolás Gaitán
Forwards: Carlos Tevez, Paulo Dybala, Ezequiel Lavezzi, Ángel Correa, Lionel Messi (captain), Sergio Agüero