Christian Maldini (born 14 June 1996) is a former Italian

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 played as a defender. A left-footed defender, Maldini was capable of playing as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and as a left-back.

Career

Early career

Maldini started his career at A.C. Milan Primavera but never broke through to the first team. In 2014, he spent half-season on loan at

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. ...

, but failed to make an appearance for the side. In honour of his late grandfather,

Cesare Cesare, the Italian version of the given name Caesar, may refer to: Given name * Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria (1738–1794), an Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel * Cesare Arzelà (1847–1912), I ...

, Maldini was named as the Milan Primavera

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for an Under-19 friendly match against

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

in April 2016. In July 2016, Maldini left Milan for Reggiana, and subsequently loaned out to Hamrun Spartans. On 18 September 2016, he made his professional debut in the Maltese Premier League, playing as a starter in a 3–1 victory against

St. Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

Later career

On 23 January 2017, Maldini's loan at Hamrun Spartans was terminated and he was released by Reggiana to join

Pro Sesto Pro Sesto 1913 S.r.l. (formerly ''Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Nuova Pro Sesto'' and initially ''Associazione Calcio Pro Sesto'') is an association football club, based in Sesto San Giovanni, Lombardy, Italy. Pro Sesto currently plays ...

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

. He spent the 2017–18 season with

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

club

Fondi Fondi ( la, Fundi; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady population ...

. On 6 July 2018, he was unveiled as a new player of Serie C club

Pro Piacenza Associazione Sportiva Pro Piacenza 1919 S.r.l. or simply Pro Piacenza was an Italian association football club, based in Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna. The club played in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football, until 18 February 2019 when ...

. Pro Piacenza experienced financial troubles in the winter of 2019, and on 5 February 2019 he signed with

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

until the end of the 2018–19 season. In November 2019, he returned to Pro Sesto. After two seasons at Pro Sesto, in August 2022 Maldini joined fellow Serie C club Lecco. He played just three games as a substitute during the next season, which saw Lecco clinch promotion to Serie B via play-offs. On 12 September 2023, Maldini announced his retirement aged 27 to pursue a career as a football agent.

Personal life

Christian is the son of former

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

player Paolo Maldini, and the grandson of

Cesare Maldini Cesare Maldini (; 5 February 1932 – 3 April 2016) was an Italian professional football manager and player who played as a defender. Father to Paolo Maldini and grandfather to Daniel Maldini, Cesare began his career with Italian side Triestin ...

. His younger brother,

Daniel Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

, is a footballer who currently plays for

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. He is of Venezuelan descent through his mother.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maldini, Christian 1996 births Living people Footballers from Milan Italian people of Slovenian descent Italian people of Venezuelan descent Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Serie C players Serie D players AC Milan players Brescia Calcio players AC Reggiana 1919 players Pro Sesto 1913 players SS Racing Club Fondi players AS Pro Piacenza 1919 players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Maltese Premier League players Ħamrun Spartans F.C. players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Italian expatriate sportspeople in Malta

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...