Davide Frattesi certainly didn’t look like a “backup option” for Inter Milan in yesterday’s Serie A win over Lecce.
This is the view in today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, via FCInterNews, who highlight the 24-year-old’s positive display in just his third Serie A start for Inter.
Frattesi got the nod in the Inter starting eleven yesterday.
The former Sassuolo midfielder took the place of Nicolo Barella on the right side of the Inter midfield trio.
And this was only the third time that Frattesi has started a league match for Inter.
The Italian international has also made starts in the Champions League and Coppa Italia. And he has had plenty of opportunities from the bench.
But this was just the third time that Frattesi had actually started a Serie A match.
The 24-year-old’s previous two starts in the league had come in away matches in Tuscany. He played from the first minute in 1-0 wins over Empoli and Fiorentina.
Davide Frattesi Not Looking Like “Backup Option” For Inter Vs Lecce
The reason that Serie A starts have been so hard to come by for Frattesi is that the starting trio of Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan has looked so set in stone.
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi has relied on those three as the foundation for a dominant league campaign.
That has led to the perception that Frattesi is more or less a backup player.
The Italian has been able to make an impact from the bench in multiple matches. That is how he has grabbed most of his goals, including a late winner over Hellas Verona.
But Frattesi showed that he can also shine when he starts yesterday.
The former Neroverdi man’s energy was key to Inter wrestling control of the match from Lecce.
And Frattesi popped up with his fifth goal of the Serie A season. That puts him behind only Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram, and penalty-taker Calhanoglu in Inter’s goalscoring charts.
