Davide Frattesi will return to the Juventus Stadium on Sunday with Lazio sitting first, five points clear of Juventus, and with his own story carrying much of the feeling around the fixture. Three wins from three and three goals in those opening matches have given Lazio an unexpected early authority, while Frattesi’s arrival has tied the present to several older chapters of his career.
The stadium already holds one of his most cherished memories. In October 2021, Sassuolo won 2-1 in Turin, with Frattesi and Maxime Lopez on the scoresheet. Before his late winner for Inter against Barcelona, a goal that came in the 99th minute of a 4-3 match, Frattesi had described that strike against Juventus as the greatest emotion of his career.
It was a goal he associated with his grandfather Carmine, a devoted Juventus supporter but, above all, a proud supporter of his grandson. After Frattesi’s matches, Carmine would put his own ratings and observations on the family door. Another grandparent, Stefania, called Davide “the Little Prince” because she believed he resembled Claudio Marchisio.
That comparison led to another Juventus connection. Frattesi met Marchisio when Luciano Spalletti was in charge of Roma. On 14 May 2017, at the age of 17, Frattesi was named among the substitutes for Roma against Juventus. He asked Marchisio for his shirt, only for the Juventus midfielder to ask for Frattesi’s in return. “What would you do with mine?” Frattesi recalled asking him. Marchisio later contacted him after that memorable goal in Turin.
From Roma to Italy, then back to Lazio
Spalletti has remained an important figure in Frattesi’s development. The pair met again with Italy, where Frattesi became the coach’s leading scorer, finding the net seven times during his time as national-team manager. Frattesi has called their relationship one of “love and hate”, recalling that Spalletti told him at his first training camp that he respected him greatly but would also be the player he would challenge most relentlessly.
For Frattesi, that attention was a sign of trust. He felt that a coach who constantly demands more is trying to improve the player, and he believes he made progress under Spalletti. The message was particularly clear during Italy’s first match at the European Championship against Albania, when Spalletti repeatedly urged him to avoid congestion, arrive in the right areas sooner and move away from the defensive line when the ball was played back.
Juventus, meanwhile, have been linked with Frattesi on more than one occasion, including during the most recent summer. The move never came together. Lazio president Claudio Lotito ultimately secured the midfielder, and Frattesi accepted a return to the club where his youth career had already left its mark.
At 13, he was coached by Daniele Franceschini in Lazio’s academy, and it was Franceschini who moved him into the central midfield role that has come to define his game. Frattesi has credited that decision as a formative one. Under Gennaro Gattuso, he is again operating as an energetic midfielder with licence to attack, resembling the forward-minded youngster he once was.
His choice to join Lazio also carried a financial sacrifice: Frattesi left €1 million at Inter in order to complete the move. He did not turn the missed opportunity to join another major club, Juventus included, into a grievance. Instead, he chose a Lazio side that had fallen away and began the season far from the expected challengers.
That decision has quickly acquired a different weight. Frattesi has found familiar roots at the club, honouring a family connection to Lazio that he insists was never broken. Sunday’s visit to Juventus therefore brings together an old goal, old conversations and a new beginning. Lazio arrive with an early lead, Frattesi arrives with three goals already, and the season has offered the club a reason to believe again.
