Italian monster, namely, reverse of friend (6)
I believe the answer is:
scylla
'italian monster' is the definition.
'Scylla' can be an answer for 'monster' (I've seen this before). I'm unsure of the 'italian' bit.
'namely reverse of friend' is the wordplay.
'namely' becomes 'sc' (short for Latin 'scilicet', meaning 'namely').
'reverse of' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'friend' becomes 'ally' (an ally is a friend or supporter).
'ally' backwards is 'ylla'.
'sc'+'ylla'='SCYLLA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scylla that I've seen before include "Charybdis counterpart" , "legendary menace in Med" , "Female sea monster in Greek myth, lived opposite whirlpool Charybdis" , "danger to shipping" , "Rock, across from 21" .)