Alfredo Donnarumma (; born 30 November 1990) is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for club

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

Club career

Torre Annunziata

Born in

Torre Annunziata Torre Annunziata (; nap, Torr'Annunziata) is a city and commune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, region of Campania in Italy. It is located on the Gulf of Naples at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. History The city was destroyed in the Vesuvius e ...

, near

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Alfredo started his playing career with his hometown club, Calcio Azzurri di Torre Annunziata. He played there until he was 14, when

Calcio Catania Catania S.S.D., commonly known as Catania, is an Italian football club based in the city of Catania, Sicily, that plays in . Originally founded in 1908 as ''Associazione Sportiva pro Educazione Fisica'', the club boasts 17 appearances in the ...

sporting director Pietro Lo Monaco scouted the player and signed him.

Catania

After transferring to Catania, Donnarumma played for all levels of the club's youth setup and in 2008 joined the ''Primavera U-20'' team of Catania, the highest youth level below the first team. He formed a great partnership with Alessandro Malafronte and most notably

Francesco Nicastro Francesco Nicastro (born 26 October 1991) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for club Pontedera. Club career Calcio Catania After working his way through the Catania youth system, the young striker began to be called up on occasio ...

during his time within Catania's youth program. He also scored 16 goals in his final youth season at the club. His senior playing career began in 2009, when the

attacker In some team sports, an attacker is a specific type of player, usually involved in aggressive play. Heavy attackers are, usually, placed up front: their goal is to score the most possible points for the team. In association football, attackers a ...

earned first-team call-ups towards the end of the 2009–10 Serie A campaign, at the age of 18. Despite failing to make his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

debut with the club, the player graduated the club's youth set-up at the conclusion of the 2009–10 season. In July 2010, Donnarumma was loaned out to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

side,

A.S. Gubbio 1910 Associazione Sportiva Gubbio 1910 is an Italian association football club, based in Gubbio, Umbria. The club play in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football. History The multi-sport club SPES Gubbio was founded in 1908. In 1910 SPES Gubbio ...

in order to earn regular playing experience. During his spell with the third division club, Donnarumma made 23 league appearances, scoring 5 league goals. In his 25 official matches for the

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

, Donnarumma was a part of the starting lineup 22 times. On 30 June 2011, Donnarumma returned to

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, where he remained until 30 January 2012, when he was sent out on loan to Lega Pro Prima Divisione side,

Virtus Lanciano S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 is an Italian association football club, based in Lanciano, Abruzzo. It last played in Serie B in 2015–16 as Virtus Lanciano. Virtus Lanciano now competes in youth football only. History The club was founded in ...

after failing to make his Catania debut. With the Lanciano-based club, Donnarumma spent time with the senior squad as well as the youth team. With the youth side, Donnarumma scored 8 goals in just 8 appearances, while with the first team, he failed to have the same impact. During the ''ritorno'' of the 2011–12 Lega Pro campaign, he appeared just 10 times for the club, all as a substitute. After again returning to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Donnarumma was asked to go out on loan once more prior to the

2012–13 Serie A The 2012–13 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th season of top-tier Italian football, the 81st in a round-robin tournament, and the 3rd since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...

season. He transferred to

Calcio Como Como 1907, commonly referred to as Como, is an Italian football club based in Como, Lombardy, Italy. The club currently plays in Serie B, the second tier of Italian football, following promotion from the 2020–21 Serie C season. The club was fo ...

on 11 July 2012, and had a successful season with the team. He was virtually ever-present for the third division club, appearing in 29 league matches (27 of which were starts) and scoring 14 league goals. Alfredo Donnarumma returned to Catania on 30 June 2013.

Cittadella

On 2 September 2013, Donnarumma was officially sold on a co-ownership basis to

A.S. Cittadella Associazione Sportiva Cittadella, commonly known as Cittadella, is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Cittadella, Veneto, currently playing in . The team was founded in 1973 and play their home games at the Stadio Pier ...

for a peppercorn fee of five hundred euro. In June 2014 Cittadella signed Donnarumma outright.

Pescara & Teramo

In summer 2014 Donnarumma was signed by

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

. In the same year he was loaned to

Teramo Teramo (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Tèreme ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines (Gran Sasso d'Italia) ...

. On 17 July 2015, Donnarumma was signed by Teramo outright. However, the Serie B newcomer was expelled due to match-fixing.

Salernitana

On 31 August 2015, Donnarumma was sold to

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

Empoli

On 11 July 2017, Donnarumma was signed by

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

from

. He helped Empoli win the Serie B title and achieve promotion to Serie A during the 2017–18 season, forming a prolific attacking partnership with

Francesco Caputo Francesco "Ciccio" Caputo (born 6 August 1987) is an Italian professional association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Empoli F.C., Empoli, on loan from U.C. Sampdoria, Sampdoria. He represents the ...

; together, the pair scored 49 goals, finishing as the top two scorers in the league, with Donnarumma scoring 23 goals and Caputo 26.

Brescia

On 13 July 2018, Donnarumma signed with

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. Donnarumma won the 2018–19 Serie B title with Brescia, finishing the season as the league's top scorer with 25 goals, thus helping the club to achieve promotion to Serie A. On 25 August 2019, Donnarumma made his Serie A debut, also scoring his first goal in the Italian top flight, in a 1–0 away win over

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

Ternana

On 11 August 2021, he moved to

on loan with an obligation to buy.

Style of play

Although he primarily plays off of another forward as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, Donnarumma is capable of playing anywhere along the

front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...

, and has also been deployed in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

as a main striker, out wide as a winger, or even in a deeper, creative role as an

. A fast forward with good technique,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills in one on one situations, link-up play, and an ability to read the game, his biggest strengths as a player are his tenacity, bravery, tactical intelligence, and work-rate off the ball, as well as his ability to create space with his movement, and provide depth to his team by holding up the ball for his teammates with his back to goal. Although he is known for his ability to create chances and provide assists for other players, he also possesses a keen eye for goal and, despite not being particularly tall or strong from a physical standpoint, is effective in the air, and is capable of scoring with either foot, as well as his head, despite being naturally right footed.

Personal life

On 27 November 2020, it was announced that Donnarumma tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, while being

asymptomatic In medicine, any disease is classified asymptomatic if a patient tests as carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no symptoms. Whenever a medical condition fails to show noticeable symptoms after a diagnosis it might be considered asy ...

, amid its pandemic in Italy.

Honours

Empoli *

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

: 2017–18 Brescia * Serie B: 2018–19 Individual *Serie B top scorer: 2018–19 (25 goals)

References

External links

thefinalball.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnarumma, Alfredo Living people 1990 births People from Torre Annunziata Footballers from Campania Association football forwards Italian footballers Catania S.S.D. players A.S. Gubbio 1910 players S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924 players Como 1907 players A.S. Cittadella players Delfino Pescara 1936 players S.S. Teramo Calcio players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Empoli F.C. players Brescia Calcio players Ternana Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players