Everton have been linked with a move for Davide Frattesi and may have to battle AS Roma and Juventus for his signature. The 20-year-old has impressed while on loan at FC Empoli and parent club Sassuolo could be bracing themselves for a lot of offers this summer as a result.
Forza Roma say Roma have a €15m (£13.6m) buyback clause for Frattesi but are trying to ‘skim’ the value during talks with his agent, while Global Sports Salaries has Sassuolo’s average wage at £915k-a-year/£17.6k-per-week. That figure is slightly lower than Everton’s average wage for young first-team players, which is between £1.04m-a-year/£20k-per-week and £1.3m-a-year/£25k-per-week.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin was earning £1.04m-a-year/£20k-per-week before he signed a new deal earlier this month, Tom Davies is currently on £1.3m-a-year/£25k-per-week and Mason Holgate took home £1.3m-a-year/£25k-a-week before his new deal earlier this month.
Frattesi may not be an immediate starter for Everton if signed this summer, but there’s a clear pathway for young talent to progress to the first-team. As per Transfermarkt, Anthony Gordon (aged 19), Davies (20), Calvert-Lewin (23) and Holgate (23) have made 85 appearances between them this season, amassing 6,071 minutes of football across all competitions.
Under Marcel Brands, Everton have been lowering the average age of the squad and signing players who have years to develop on Merseyside. Frattesi certainly fits the criteria, but the Toffees have a difficult task on their hands beating out a former club in AS Roma, let alone Juventus.
The 20-year-old was born in Rome and left Roma for Sassuolo in 2017, having joined the club from Lazio in 2014. They’ll understandably be an attractive proposition for Frattesi if he’s to get more regular opportunities than in his first stint.
As per Transfermarkt, the Italian u21 international represented the u17s 26 times and the reserves 34 times while never playing a minute of senior football.