Bastoni is living through a horrible season in terms of public perception for two reasons: he is being treated like the devil himself and he gets booed in stadiums every time he touches the ball, even with the Italian national team. But he is not the central problem.
Did he make mistakes? Yes. But if we are talking about the Italian national team and the objective of stopping this embarrassing cycle and qualifying for the 2030 World Cup, that has to include Bastoni as part of the solution.
He had two very bad moments this season. The dive on a foul that never existed, which led to Kalulu’s second yellow in Inter Milan vs Juventus: a clear lack of fair play. And then the completely senseless red card against Bosnia. From that moment on, Italy just dropped deeper and deeper in that match… and eventually lost on penalties, missing the World Cup for the third time in a row.
The criticism is massive and I understand it. But there have to be limits. Was Bastoni the main reason Italy did not beat Bosnia? For me, no. And I am not even going too deep into Italy’s bigger structural issues, like the lack of trust in young players and the lack of talent, but even so: is there really not enough quality there to control Bosnia, even with ten men? Italy simply gave up on keeping the ball and decided to defend as deep as possible. The red card had an impact, of course, but it was not an immediate death sentence. It was not a top-level national team on the other side.
As for the fair play issue: this is not just a Bastoni thing, it is a global problem. You see it everywhere, especially in Brazilian football: diving, time-wasting, pretending there was contact. It is almost normal now. He made a mistake, of course he did. But he did not invent any of this.
Bastoni’s relationship with Italy, and with the country itself, is at the worst possible point right now. And honestly, he has to leave at the end of the season. Wherever it is. There is talk about Barcelona, but the destination matters less than the fact that he simply has to go. Will he leave on a low note? Yes. But this situation cannot continue like this.
Giuseppe Bergomi already said that, for his own safety, Bastoni should leave Italy and I agree, but at the same time, the league is going to suffer massively from that. Serie A already has little appeal, a style of football that does not attract people, a lack of stars… and now it may also lose one of the best centre-backs in the world. Because yes, there is no doubt about it: Bastoni is top 5 in his position.
Conclusion
Bastoni has to leave Italy, not only because of what he did, but because of the environment that has been created around him. But at the same time, the league is going to lose a lot from it. They are not going to replace a centre-back of this level easily. At best, they will go and sign someone older, and then they will just continue with exactly the same problem.
The league needs money, it needs attention… and it is close to losing one of its best players.
The situation is far from good.