Frosinone return from the international break with an immediate problem at the centre of their season: Antonio Raimondo, the striker who has given Massimiliano Alvini’s promising start much of its cutting edge, is facing a spell out with an Achilles injury.
Raimondo was stopped while away with Italy Under-21s and, after returning to Frosinone, underwent medical examinations which identified insertional tendinopathy in his right Achilles tendon. He has begun conservative treatment, although the club have not set a date for his return. The likely absence is around a month, beginning with the trip to Napoli on Saturday 10 October when the league resumes.
It is a substantial interruption for a forward who has scored four times in the opening phase of the campaign. In Alvini’s 4-2-3-1, Raimondo has been the reference point at the end of Frosinone’s attacking moves, and his absence now asks the coach to find a new focal point rather than merely make a like-for-like change.
The decision is expected to rest between two arrivals from the latest transfer window, Daniel Birligea and Tomas Bobcek. Birligea may hold a narrow advantage, despite having played only 12 Serie A minutes for the Giallazzurri so far. The 26-year-old Romanian joined from Steaua Bucharest and has already offered a reminder of his scoring instincts on international duty, netting his third Romania goal on Monday in the defeat to Bosnia.
His route to this opportunity has been an unusual one. Birligea moved to Palermo at the age of 12 and developed in the Rosanero youth system before spending from 2019 until January 2022 at Teramo in Serie C. He then returned to Romania with Cluj, before moving to Steaua Bucharest in 2024.
Bobcek, 25, has had even less time on the pitch in Frosinone colours, with 19 league minutes to date. Yet the Slovak striker arrives with a recent record of his own, having finished as the leading scorer in the previous Polish championship with Lechia. Raimondo’s setback may therefore open the first meaningful contest for a place in Alvini’s forward line, with both newcomers given a chance to turn limited appearances into a more central role.
