Davide Frattesi has become a priority target for Roma again, but would the Italy midfielder be a good signing now or not?
Roma seem serious about bringing Frattesi back to the club he came through at. Various reports have explained how the Rome-born midfielder is at the top of the club’s wish list this January. But there are a lot of underlying factors Roma need to reflect on before committing to the deal.
I’m about to have a debate with myself about the reasons in favour of Frattesi’s return and the reasons against. But which side is the voice of reason?
For: Improving the midfield options
The outstanding form of Manu Koné in his first season at Roma might be doing enough to help some start to forget how much La Magica’s midfield was under the microscope in recent years, but taking Frattesi could be the opportunity to solidify that department once and for all.
Roma would be getting their hands on another dynamic, box-to-box midfielder who could be powerful in transitions. Adding Frattesi could be the icing on the cake for Roma’s regeneration in the engine room, especially in the wake of Enzo Le Fée’s premature exit.
Let’s not forget that there was a time when Roma had Daniele De Rossi, Miralem Pjanic, Kevin Strootman and Radja Nainggolan to pick from in midfield. The current midfield has improved thanks to Koné, the return to form of Leandro Paredes and the emergence of Niccolo Pisilli, but what’s to say Roma shouldn’t stock up a midfield department as strong as it used to be a decade ago? It could set them up for a new era, fixing the faults of recent years.
Against: Who drops out?
Squad depth is all well and good, until it causes friction with players missing out in the rotations. Claudio Ranieri has recently found a settled formula with Paredes pairing Koné, plus the option of a spare midfielder depending on whether the system is a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-2-1. If Frattesi was to come in, he would do so with reasonable expectations of starting regularly, so how would he fit in?
On paper, Paredes would be the more likely casualty, but would that leave Roma with enough balance? Part of the reason his partnership with Koné has been effective recently is because they have clearly different roles, but a combination of Koné and Frattesi might require more of a share of responsibilities.
That said, it could work well if Roma stuck to a 3-5-2, with Paredes sitting in between both of them. Paulo Dybala would then support Artem Dovbyk in the attack, which would – not unexpectedly, but still significantly – mean less space for captain Lorenzo Pellegrini, for example.
For: Rewards club’s academy effort
Having mentioned Pellegrini – a player who came through Roma’s academy and went to Sassuolo before coming back – it seems an appropriate time to reflect on Frattesi’s journey, as a player who came through Roma’s academy and went to Sassuolo, but wasn’t bought back while the club had the option.
Not every player produced by Roma’s academy gets to make it in the first team. This month is the fifth anniversary of Matteo Politano posing with a scarf ahead of his return to Roma (from Inter, ironically), which ultimately collapsed. Other Roma academy graduates in circulation elsewhere include Riccardo Calafiori at Arsenal and Gianluca Scamacca at Atalanta. Either of those two could realistically start for Roma now if fit. At his peak, Politano could have stood an outside chance too.
The return of Frattesi – who only made the Roma bench three times, all in the 2016-17 season, and was never sent on for his debut by Luciano Spalletti – would belatedly reward the club for their work developing him as a young talent.
Fans of any team, not just one whose two leading appearance makers of all time were academy graduates in Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi, want to see their own youth products flourishing in the first team if they are good enough to fulfil their potential, and even though Pellegrini has been under pressure recently, the three-years-younger Frattesi would be symbolic of Rome-produced talent regaining a place in the project.
Against: High price tag
But as the partially fair, partially undue criticism of Pellegrini has served to remind, along with the imminent exit of the more rapidly declining Nicola Zalewski, any academy product needs to continue to warrant their place for their form on the pitch, not just their origins.
Would Frattesi merit being a part of this Roma squad? Yes. But – and this is the big question – would he merit being worth the kind of fee Inter are asking for him? At a rumoured €50m, the answer has to be no. And voice of reason Ranieri knows it too.
Frattesi isn’t a regular starter for Inter, so that demand seems hard to justify – unless, of course, it’s simply a case of the Nerazzurri not wanting to weaken their squad mid-season, especially in a competitive title race.
It’s one thing bringing back an academy player for good reasons, but it’s a whole other story – and somewhat embarrassing – doing so at a club-record level of investment.
If he’s worth it, he’s worth it. From Riyad Mahrez to Granit Xhaka, there have been times before when Roma haven’t reached the asking price for a player when in hindsight stretching the budget a bit more would have been beneficial. But the suspicion is that Frattesi is not a €50m player.
No matter how much Roma regret seeing him play elsewhere, perhaps the stress should be on avoiding letting the next Frattesi slip from their grasp.
For: Avoids risk of joining another club
Yet that point of Roma regretting seeing him play elsewhere could be emphasised if any failure to buy Frattesi now leads to him joining another different club.
When Politano slipped from Roma’s grasp in 2020, Inter sold him to Napoli instead. And the projections suggest Frattesi – a more upwardly mobile player with forecasts of a strong prime – would be even less short of suitors, with Napoli again a rival to Roma along with some Premier League outfits.
If Inter soften their stance and open up to selling Frattesi, this could become a now-or-never moment for Roma to take their chance. Besides, there have been some claims that Inter would offer favourable terms to Roma compared to some of his other admirers, in which case it could be a move to make while that advantage is there.
Against: Other priority positions
The problem is, Frattesi isn’t the only player Roma might be in a battle for this winter. As stated earlier, he could be the icing on the cake for his position – but there are other positions where the process is further behind and better foundations need to be laid.
Securing a starting right-back, restoring depth at centre-back and improving the options across the attack all could be seen as more important than signing someone like Frattesi right now. Or even if they are of equal importance, it might cost as much to sign Frattesi as it would to address multiple of those other areas. How is it best to allocate funds?
Conclusion:
At the end of the day, Roma’s decision makers seem to believe a move for Frattesi is justified, given their persistence.
This is a player who could add a goal threat from midfield – not in a dissimilar way to how an in-form Pellegrini can be capable of, or was in the past – and that could ease the burden on the attackers and even help them reach better numbers thanks to his assists.
His high pedigree could be appealing to potential candidates for Roma’s coaching vacancy next season (as long as those candidates rate him, that is, which could also make his expensive arrival risky to a degree), proving the club have strong players to work with and have the potential to attract more.
It would be symbolic of an evolution in midfield, especially when players like Pellegrini and Bryan Cristante have been linked with exits – with some whispers of part-exchange deals, even though the former seems of more interest to Inter than the latter – and Paredes is approaching the end of his contract.
Make no mistake, signing Frattesi would be a major move. Roma haven’t always got those right, especially in midfield. But is it finally time to move on from those nagging ‘what-might-have-been’ thoughts and see how he would do back in the Giallorossi colours?
Leave a Reply