Federico Gatti

Federico Gatti (born 24 June 1998) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Juventus and the Italy national team.

In his youth career, Gatti played for the clubs Chieri, Torino and Alessandria. Gatti's senior career began with in February 2015, when he joined Promozione team Pavarolo, who gained promotion to Eccellenza in the next season. In mid-2016, Gatti joined Saluzzo but returned to Pavarolo six months later. Gatti remained at Pavarolo until 2018, when he changed his position from midfielder to defender during the last matches of the season. He then moved to Verbania, who won the Eccellenza title and were promoted to Serie D in the 2018–19 season. Gatti made his professional debut with Serie C side Pro Patria and he joined Serie B side Frosinone the following year. In January 2022, Gatti joined Juventus, who loaned him back to Frosinone until the end of the season.

Gatti did not represent Italy at youth levels, and he won his first senior team cap in 2022. Two years later, he was also selected for the UEFA Euro 2024 final squad.

In 2005, aged seven, Federico Gatti played in a friendly match for Chieri against Torino; Giorgio Boscarato, Torino's sporting observer, noted his talent as a trequartista and reported him to Silvano Benedetti, the Torino Youth Sector sporting director who ultimately signed him. Gatti was promoted to the under-15s side before moving on to Alessandria's youth team. Gatti spent the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons with the club's under-15s (Giovanissimi Nazionali) side and with the under-17s (Allievi) team.

Throughout his youth career, Gatti was not considered by Torino nor by Alessandria. Gatti was sent on loan to Pavarolo in the 2014–15 season. Instead of playing with the under-17s side, Gatti spent most of the season playing for the under-19s (Juniores) team, with whom he scored 13 goals in 18 league appearances despite being only 17 years old.

In February 2015, Federico Gatti debuted with the Pavarolo first team, with whom he made four appearances that season. The following season, Gatti was promoted to the first team and scored three goals in 27 Promozione appearances; he also won the award for the Best Youth Player of the season. His side were also promoted to Eccellenza, having won the Coppa Italia Promozione Piemonte–Valle d'Aosta.

In 2016, Alessandria loaned Gatti to Saluzzo but not having found much space, Gatti returned to Pavarolo in mid-January 2017. At the end of the season, Pavarolo avoided relegation to Promozione. During the 2016–17 season, Gatti scored eight goals in 31 league appearances.

In the following season (2017–18), due to financial problems, Pavarolo could not pay its players so the most-experienced players decided not to train or play in the last 10 league matches, and the under-19s team were promoted to the first team. Because Gatti was the tallest player on the squad, he changed his position from midfielder to defender. Gatti's side were relegated to Promozione at the end of the season.