Jose Mourinho labelled him “il ragazzino” (the kid) in honour of the fact that when Davide Santon made his debut for Inter he was just 18 – and rated within the club as a superb prospect.
Santon was born in Portomaggiore, a small village not far from Ferrara, in the Emilia Romagna region. He started his footballing career with Ravenna, a club from the same area, but his natural ability quickly became apparent and at 14, Santon moved to the bright lights of Milan to join Inter.
The defender possesses great skill and the versatility to play on the left or right of a defensive line. Under Mourinho at the Nerazzurri, Santon was on occasion deployed in midfield too, thanks to his ability to get down the flanks and ping dangerous crosses in for Inter’s attacking stars.
Mourinho was Santon’s mentor at Inter and included him in the first team in the summer of 2008. The youngster made his debut later that same season, featuring for the Milan giants in a Coppa Italia clash against Roma at the San Siro. Just a few days after he tasted Serie A action, turning out in Inter’s 1-0 home win over Sampdoria.
That year was a magic time for Santon. Mourinho placed much trust in his young boots, also giving him a vote of confidence by including him in Inter’s side against Manchester United in the last 16 of the Champions League. Santon was impressing people, not just his coach, and was regularly lauded as one of the most promising talents in Europe.
And when the 2008/09 campaign came to an end, the Italian was able to reflect on 16 appearances and a part in helping Inter to another Scudetto.
The icing on the cake arrived in June 2009, when Italy boss Marcello Lippi called Santon up for La Nazionale to take part in a friendly against Northern Ireland. Lippi also gave Santon the nod to board the plane for the Confederations Cup in South Africa, but the defender did not manage a single minute on the pitch. Fortunately this meant the Inter man avoided the implosion of the then-world champions, as Italy were beaten by Egypt and destroyed by Brazil. His omission had been a stroke of luck.
As the 2009/10 Serie A campaign dawned Santon looked on the verge of a brilliant career in Italy’s top flight, but the defender’s best laid plans soon started to unravel.
On 17th November 2009, when turning out for Italy’s Under-21s, Santon suffered a meniscus injury and the effects of that blow rippled throughout his entire season. Inter won a famous Treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League) with Mourinho, but Santon featured only sporadically, and never in a vital clash.
At the beginning of the next campaign, he found a new face in the coach’s office – Rafael Benitez. The youngster’s relationship with Benitez was not trouble free, with the Spaniard not displaying a great deal of trust in his abilities.
After Inter won the Club World Cup, Benitez was axed, but Santon’s fortunes under new boss Leonardo did not improve and the Brazilian came to an agreement with president Massimo Moratti to loan the defender to Cesena. Santon was back in his beloved Emilia Romagna region and quickly picked the number 46 shirt in honour of his idol Valentino Rossi, a former Moto GP World Champion.
While Santon settled into Cesena, Moratti bought Japanese full back Yuto Nagatomo from the same club; a player who would occupy Santon’s berth at Inter – the door was closing.
The Italian did reasonably well with the Bianconeri of Romagna and played a part in helping the club avoid relegation to Serie B. Despite that however, he never truly excelled and sometimes had an anonymous look, performing below well below the level of those early days at Inter.
This summer new Inter boss Gian Piero Gasperini decided to recall Santon to Inter for pre-season training but, out of the blue at the end of the summer transfer window on 30th August, the Nerazzurri sold the defender to English Premier League club Newcastle United. And the deal was not a loan but, surprisingly, a concrete €6M switch.
In the meantime Santon lost his chance to take part in Italy’s new adventure under Cesare Prandelli, but at St. James’ Park he can restart a career that just two years ago looked so full of promise, but today has slipped into mediocrity.
