Mattia Zanotti

Mattia Zanotti's route to professional football began at the local oratory in Lonato del Garda, where he started playing at the age of five. From there he moved through the youth ranks of Virtus Feralpi Lonato and then Brescia Calcio, before Inter Milan brought him into their academy in 2017. He signed his first professional contract with Inter in October 2021 and made his Serie A debut that December, aged 18.

His progress at Inter was rewarded with silverware rather than regular first-team football: he won the Supercoppa Italiana in 2022, the Coppa Italia in 2022–23, and the Primavera 1 championship in 2021–22. To gain playing time, he was loaned to FC St. Gallen for the 2023–24 season, where he made 34 league appearances and scored three goals.

That form led to a permanent move to FC Lugano in July 2024, on a four-year contract, with Inter retaining a sell-on clause on any future transfer. Zanotti has also been a regular for Italy's youth sides, collecting caps at both under-20 and under-21 level. He was part of the Italy squad that reached the final of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina, finishing as runners-up. In the 2024–25 season, his performances in Switzerland earned him a place in the Swiss Super League's SAFP Golden 11.