Alessandro - the debut

Composure, confidence and vision. At just 20 years old, Alessandro Bastoni already looked rock-solid. It was the start of the 2019/20 season and Inter were facing back-to-back away fixtures, with a trip to Barcelona coming up on 2 October. Rotation was therefore inevitable for the Saturday visit to Sampdoria in Genoa. Antonio Conte had until then alternated between Danilo D’Ambrosio, Diego Godin, Milan Skriniar and Stefan de Vrij in his back three. Against Sampdoria, however, he decided to place his trust in a hugely promising 20-year-old: Alessandro Bastoni.

In Genoa, Inter’s number 95 , chosen in tribute to the year his brother was born, produced a superb performance, keeping Quagliarella, the previous season’s Serie A top scorer, quiet throughout. Bastoni had spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma, where he had established himself as a regular starter, but Inter had already beaten the competition to his signature by signing him from Atalanta at just 17. What had once looked like a huge investment in a teenager would soon prove to be a masterstroke. Bastoni joined up with Inter in the summer of 2019. Diego Godin had arrived on a free transfer and was expected to be first choice on the left of Conte’s back three, but a long battle for the position soon developed between the pair. The Uruguayan was often edged out by a technically gifted centre-back whose quality on the ball was more reminiscent of a midfielder. Bastoni also scored twice in his debut season and finished the campaign as an undisputed starter. From that point on, he never looked back. Alongside Barella and Lautaro, he is now one of only three players still at the club from the 2020/21 Scudetto-winning side, and has become a cornerstone for both Inter and the Italian national team. Europe’s biggest clubs are regularly linked with him, with reports of their interest surfacing every summer. Inter, however, have no intention of letting Ale go. Not only is he one of the outstanding Italian talents of his generation, he has also been an Inter fan since he was a child.