Seven goals in seven rounds: Raimondo leads Serie A scoring after Frosinone hat-trick
Only Zlatan Ibrahimović had scored three braces in the opening seven rounds of a Serie A season in the past 40 years. Antonio Raimondo has now matched that…
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Only Zlatan Ibrahimović had scored three braces in the opening seven rounds of a Serie A season in the past 40 years. Antonio Raimondo has now matched that mark—and added his first top-flight hat-trick—as Frosinone beat Sassuolo 4-2.
The Bologna-owned striker scored three times to take his league tally to seven, one ahead of Roma’s Donyell Malen. He is Serie A’s leading scorer, and his latest performance has put a possible senior Italy call-up in the conversation.
Raimondo, 22, had already scored twice against Fiorentina and Venezia this season. Calciomercato.com reports that only Barcelona’s Raphinha has recorded more multiple-goal games across Europe’s five leading leagues; Raimondo is level with Lamine Yamal. His hat-trick was also the first by a Frosinone player in Serie A.
After the Sassuolo match, Raimondo told DAZN: “I arrived at Frosinone after a season in which I’d been awful.” He was referring to loan spells at Venezia and Salernitana in Serie B, where he scored once. “I owe everything to coach Alvini, who has improved me a lot,” he added.
Frosinone coach Massimiliano Alvini said Raimondo was a choice made by Renzo Castagnini. Alvini praised the striker’s progress but said he still had room to grow and should keep aiming higher.
Raimondo came through Bologna’s youth system, scoring 28 goals for its Primavera side. He remains under contract with Bologna until June 2028 and is on loan at Frosinone. Last season, he scored 11 times in Serie B and once in the Coppa Italia; he has already surpassed that league total in Serie A.
Calciomercato.com reports that Italy coach Roberto Mancini is monitoring Raimondo, with a November call-up for Nations League matches against France and Belgium a possibility. Raimondo has scored for Italy at Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 level, with seven, two and four goals respectively.
Another young striker features in the wider Italy picture: Nicolò Tresoldi, who scored a Champions League hat-trick for Club Brugge against Inter, has delayed choosing between Italy and Germany until after the Under-21 European Championship, which he will play with Germany. For Raimondo, the immediate case is built on a simple measure: seven goals in seven Serie A rounds. Keeping that rate going would make the national-team discussion harder to ignore.
