Davide Frattesi: From Inter Milan’s Forgotten Man to Italy’s Talisman

Moise Kean’s goal against Israel on Monday night was something of a rarity. It wasn’t just the Fiorentina forward’s first goal for Italy in three years, but it also marked the first time a striker had scored for the Azzurri in six months.

Of the 26 goals Italy have scored under Luciano Spalletti only five have come from their main No 9, a damning statistic whichever way one looks at it.

The last recognised striker to score for the Azzurri before Kean was Mateo Retegui in a friendly against Venezuela in March.

Hard-working and selfless as he is, the Atalanta forward hardly fits the definition of prolific.

Davide Frattesi, however, fits it to perfection.

Four days after scoring Italy’s second in their 3-1 win against France at the Parc des Princes, the Inter Milan midfielder was on target again in the 2-1 win over Israel.

With six goals to his name, Frattesi is now Italy’s top scorer under Spalletti and he averages a goal every three games for the the national team. Over the last 12 months, Bruno Fernandes is the only midfielder to have scored more international goal than Frattesi.

The 24-year-old has developed into a crucial player for the Azzurri, as Spalletti acknowledged himself after the win against Israel. 

“He has the ability to get himself into the final third,” he said.

“He’s always in the right place at the right time.”

Frattesi has solved Italy’s goalscoring issue

Fabio Capello sang from the same hymn sheet on Monday, suggesting that Frattesi’s goalscoring form meant the need to find a prolific striker was not as pressing.

“Frattesi is your classic box-to-box midfielder, always looking to make those late runs into the box,” the former England manager told La Gazzetta dello Sport.  

“He’s got a great eye for goal and brings so much else to the team. If you’ve got wingers who can finish well or midfielders who make good runs into the box, you can compensate for not having a classic goalscorer.”

Frattesi’s performances for Italy are all the more impressive considering he remains on the periphery of Simone Inzaghi’s squad at Inter Milan.

The midfielder scored six Serie A goals last season, despite only starting only six league games and playing a total of just 935 minutes of football.

As if to further underline his status as a fringe player, 276 of those minutes came after Inter had already sealed the Scudetto.

Frattesi initially joined Inter Milan on loan from Sassuolo with an obligation to buy last term, before the Nerazzurri made the deal permanent for €25m (£21m) in July.

First team opportunities, however, have remained at a premium for the Rome native.  

So far this season, Frattesi has played a combined 54 minutes of football across Inter’s first three Serie A fixtures.

To put those figures into context, the midfielder has started 66 percent of matches for Italy since Spalletti replaced Roberto Mancini in charge of the national team, but only 26 percent of matches since joining Inter Milan at the beginning of last season.

Can Frattesi break into Inter’s midfield?

And he remains firmly behind Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Nicolo Barella in the pecking order at the San Siro.

Worryingly for the Italy international, Piotr Zielinski’s arrival in the summer bolstered the options at Inzaghi’s disposal even further. 

In truth, for all of Frattesi’s importance to the Azzurri, it would be hard to argue with Inzaghi’s tactical choices.

The 48-year-old led Inter to the Scudetto last season, the sixth major trophy in three years in Milan, a run which also included reaching the Champions League final in 2023.

Keeping Frattesi out of the starting XI will become increasingly difficult if he continues to deliver the goods for Italy, particularly given that Mkhitaryan will turn 36 in January.

On Wednesday, Corriere dello Sport reported that Frattesi will ask Inzaghi to play more regularly, while La Gazzetta dello Sport noted his agent held a similar conversation with Inter in the summer.

Capello, for one, is backing Frattesi to cement himself in the Nerazzurri’s midfield.

“Even if Inzaghi has Barella and Mkhitaryan, I’m convinced that this season at Inter he will have many more opportunities to prove his worth because there will be significant rotation,” he said.

He may not yet be Inter’s loss, but so far Frattesi is definitely Italy’s gain.