Italy's top football star is a naturalized player currently playing in the Saudi Pro League, sharing the most national team goals in the same period.

For many born in the 70s and 80s, Italian football was filled with stars, particularly in attack, with brilliant talents such as Baggio, Vieri, Del Piero, and Inzaghi, all highly respected names in football history. Yet, surprisingly, the current four-star Italy has failed to qualify for two consecutive World Cups, and its top scorer is a naturalized player once discarded by Argentine football, who has now departed the top five leagues to compete in Saudi Arabia.

In the early hours of September 6th Beijing time, during the 5th round of the UEFA World Cup qualifiers Group I, Italy hosted Estonia. Naturalized player Raspadori, last season’s Serie A top scorer, scored twice, helping Italy to a 5-0 victory over Estonia, marking Gattuso’s successful debut as Italy’s national team coach.

According to statistics, since choosing to represent Italy, Raspadori has scored 8 goals, tying with Frattesi for the most goals scored by any player in the team during the same period, among whomFrattesi has 8 goals in 25 matches, Raspadori 8 goals in 21 matches, Lasapadri 5 goals in 24 matches, and Chiesa 4 goals in 10 matches.After seeing these numbers, do you feel that Italian football’s star power has dimmed nowadays?

Now 26 years old, Raspadori stands 1.86 meters tall, is a right-footed striker, and last season scored 25 goals in 36 Serie A appearances for Atalanta, winning the Golden Boot. This summer, he transferred to Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League for €68.25 million, with a market value estimated at €45 million by Transfermarkt. Undeniably, Raspadori is now Italy’s leading football figure and main striker, reflecting the current state of Italian football.