Gianluca Frabotta snub at West Brom becomes clear after Carlos Corberan admission
Carlos Corberan has admitted that Gianluca Frabotta needs time to adapt to life in England before being handed his full West Brom debut in the Championship.
The 25-year-old has yet to start for the Baggies in the league since his move from Juventus, with his only three outings coming via the bench, totalling 18 minutes on the field.
Frabotta has not been seen at all this month and most recently featured alongside Callum Styles and Devante Cole for the U21 side in a Premier League 2 match against Stoke City during the international break.
In quotes published by Birmingham Live [17 September], Corberan revealed that the decision was made with a view of preparing Frabotta for his first-team inclusion down the line.
He said: “Frabotta needed to understand that there is a need to focus, to forget about the referee and focus and compete.
“There were actions that before he understood to be a foul, but here they’re not so he must adapt to the conditions. This is a normal part of the process.”
Gianluca Frabotta needs to prove himself at West Brom
The sentence that a one-time Juventus player needs to prove his worth to West Brom would be considered farcical but that is the reality facing Frabotta at The Hawthorns.
West Brom have established their promotion credentials at the start of the season and sit at the top of the table after four wins and one draw in five matches.
Darnell Furlong and summer signing Torbjorn Heggem have impressed at full-back under Corberan, with the former the subject of high praise from the boss, leaving Frabotta with a monumental challenge early into his Baggies career to force his place into the side.
The Italian had not played for Juventus since the 2020/21 season, when making 15 first-team appearances in Serie A, but he should lean on his experience representing a top European side to make a name for himself in the Championship.
It has been a turbulent journey that has led Frabotta to The Hawthorns. After falling out of favour with the Old Lady, he endured five different loan spells before finding a permanent home in England and it seems he has much to learn about English football before Corberan is ready to place his trust in him.
While the current full-backs have been exceptional, the Baggies are light in terms of options and as the Championship season takes its toll, Frabotta will be a key option to share the burden of a gruelling fixture schedule.
He has all the tools to become a valuable asset to the promotion aspirations at West Brom this season but for now, the club must bide their time and wait for the perfect opportunity to introduce Frabotta to English football.
In other West Brom news, Carlos Corberan explains the ‘unfair decisions’ he loves to make at West Brom.
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