Gianluca Frabotta set to play for West Brom U21s at The Hawthorns
Gianluca Frabotta will feature in the West Brom Under-21s’ Premier League Cup game against Swansea City at The Hawthorns on Thursday, 17 October.
The 25-year-old has been restricted to just four cameo appearances in the Championship since arriving on a free transfer from Juventus in the summer.
With a busy schedule ahead, Carlos Corberan is keen for the left-back to get playing time under his belt and has confirmed that he will feature for the youth side on Thursday.
“Right now everyone is fit, but right now I am managing a little bit the players that didn’t play a lot of minutes, for example Frabotta, who will have minutes with the under-21s”, the manager told a press conference (via Express and Star, 17 October).
“It is important he has this. We decided this because he is the player that has not been involved and didn’t play as much.
“I can give him minutes but at the same time he cannot play a lot because he still has possibilities to be involved or not on Saturday.
“I will be very focused on the under-21s minutes because some of our players need more games.
“Thanks to the international break they can have games like Holgate or Paddy [McNair] and the players that didn’t have the possibility and have not been playing, it’s important we help them with the under-21s to have the minutes and exposure so they are ready to compete.”
Playing for West Brom U21s will do Gianluca Frabotta good
As someone who was previously on Juventus’ books, Frabotta will not be too pleased about his limited playing time in the English second tier.
However, it is important that he takes the time to adapt to life in West Midlands, as Corberan said in September.
While Frabotta could still feature in Saturday’s (19 October) trip to Oxford United, playing for the Under-21s will only do him good.
The Italian has already appeared for Richard Beale’s side, starting and scoring in their 5-0 victory over Stoke City on 1 September.
He will be hopeful of a similar result against Swansea’s youth outfit on Thursday as he looks to climb his way up the pecking order at The Hawthorns.
Meanwhile, Torbjorn Heggem, who, like Frabotta, is 25 and arrived in the summer, has established himself as Corberan’s first-choice left-back despite being a central defender by trade.
The Norwegian has impressed in the new position, helping the Baggies keep five clean sheets in nine league games and providing one assist.
In other West Brom news, this is the Baggies’ position as they await making major contract decisions at the Hawthorns.
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