Cristiano Piccini (; born 26 September 1992) 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

right 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 ...

for

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

club

1. FC Magdeburg 1. FC Magdeburg is a German association football club based in the city of Magdeburg. The club was founded in 1965 and spent all but one season in East Germany top flight, the DDR-Oberliga, winning three championships and seven cup titles. It ...

. He made three appearances for the Italy national team.

Club career

Fiorentina

Born in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Piccini joined

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

's youth setup in 2002, aged ten, after starting it out at Sporting Arno. On 5 December 2010, he made his first team – and

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, coming on as a substitute for

Manuel Pasqual Manuel Pasqual (; born 13 March 1982) is a retired Italian professional footballer who played for the Italy national team. He is an offensive left-back who is well known for his crossing ability. He is also capable of playing as a wide midfiel ...

in a 1–0 home win against

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 ...

. On 30 August 2011, Piccini was loaned to

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in Serie B in 1948. History The club was founded in 1908. In the season 2010–1 ...

, in a season-long deal. He scored his first professional goal on 4 April of the following year, netting the first in a 3–1 home loss against

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 ...

. The following season, Piccini joined Spezia of

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 ...

on loan until the end of the season. After being an undisputed starter, he was loaned to the top level's

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, with a buyout clause.

Betis

On 27 August 2014, Piccini moved to Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

. He made his debut on 7 September, starting in a 4–1 away loss against SD Ponferradina in which he played a part in Jorge Molina's goal, and made 11 more appearances as they won the title. Piccini signed a permanent four-year deal with the ''Verdiblancos'' on 9 July 2015, with Fiorentina holding a buyback option. He made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

debut on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. ( ca-valencia, Vila-real Club de Futbol, S.A.D.), usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF or simply Villarreal, is a professional football club based in Villarreal, in the Castellón province of eastern Spain, th ...

. On 8 January 2017, Piccini scored his first top-flight goal to conclude a 2–0 win over

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded on 23 June 1928. It holds home games at ...

at the

Estadio Benito Villamarín Estadio Benito Villamarín is a stadium in Seville, Spain, and the home of Real Betis since its completion in 1929. It has a capacity of 60,720. History Construction As early as 1912, the Spanish architect Aníbal González Álvarez-Ossorio had ...

, and followed it two months later to open a 1–1 draw at Deportivo de La Coruña. He was also sent off twice over the course of the season, the first coming after 16 minutes of a 3–1 loss at

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in eu, Eibar Kirol Elkartea) is a professional Spanish football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the team currently plays in the Segunda División, the s ...

for a foul on

Takashi Inui is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for Shimizu S-Pulse and the Japan national team. Club career Inui was an All Japan High School Soccer Tournament champion in 2006 when his high school, Shi ...

Sporting CP

On 18 May 2017, Piccini signed a five-year contract with Sporting CP. He made his debut for the club on 6 August, as the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

season began with a 2–0 away win against

C.D. Aves Clube Desportivo das Aves (), commonly known as Desportivo das Aves, or simply as Aves, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso. The club was founded on 12 November 1930 and plays at the Estádio do Clube ...

. Piccini played four games as Sporting won the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

. This included the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

on 27 January 2018, in which he played all 120 minutes of a 1–1 draw before defeating

Vitória F.C. Vitória Futebol Clube is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Setúbal. Popularly known as Vitória de Setúbal (), the club was born under the original name Sport Victoria from the ashes of the small Bonfim Foot-Ball Club. When it comes ...

on penalties. On 31 March, he was sent off in a 1–0 loss away to S.C. Braga.

Valencia

On 23 July 2018, Piccini returned to La Liga, signing for

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

for a fee of around €10 million. In his debut season, he made 37 appearances, mostly as a starter, and scored a last-minute winner in a 2–1 home win over SD Huesca on 23 December. Seven of these games were in the victorious

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

run, including 18 minutes as a substitute for

Kévin Gameiro Kevin Dominique Gameiro (born 9 May 1987) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Strasbourg. He is a strong striker who is known for his clinical finishing, which compensates for his relatively light frame. ...

in the 2–1 final win over

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

on 25 May 2019; the result was Valencia's first honour since 2008. In August 2019, just two games into the new season, Piccini suffered a fractured kneecap while in training, an injury that would leave him out of the squad until the end of year. He remained sidelined for the whole season, undergoing another operation in May 2020.

Loan to Atalanta

On 9 September 2020, Piccini joined Italian

club

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

on loan with an option to buy. The recovery from his kneecap injury delayed his debut until 21 November, when he played in a 0–0 away draw to Spezia. This turned out to be his only appearance for the Bergamo side, as Valencia reached an agreement for his early return in January 2021.

Red Star Belgrade

On 15 January 2022, Piccini was released from

and signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Serbian club Crvena Zvezda.

1. FC Magdeburg

In September 2022 Piccini joined German club

of the

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

International career

Piccini was given his first senior call-up for

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 ...

in October 2018 by manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Samp ...

, following injuries to several players in the team. He made his senior debut for the national team on 10 October, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for

Alessandro Florenzi Alessandro Florenzi (born 11 March 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for club AC Milan and the Italy national team. Florenzi started his professional club career with Roma in 2011, but spent the 2011–12 ...

in a 1–1 friendly draw against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Sporting CP *

: 2017–18 Valencia *

: 2018–19 Red Star Belgrade * Serbian SuperLiga: 2021–22 *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије, Kup Srbije) is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. From 2006 to 2010, the competition was known as the Lav Cup ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* *
FIGC Profile
in FIGC.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Piccini, Cristiano 1992 births Living people Footballers from Florence Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players Segunda División players Primeira Liga players Serbian SuperLiga players 2. Bundesliga players ACF Fiorentina players Spezia Calcio players US Livorno 1915 players Valencia CF players Atalanta BC players Real Betis players Sporting CP footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers 1. FC Magdeburg players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Italian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Italian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany