Francesco Bardi (born 18 January 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Italian club Reggiana.

Club career

Livorno

Bardi is a product of

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 ...

's youth system. He made his professional 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 on 16 May 2010, aged 18, starting the home game versus

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, with the latter coming off 1–4 winners, when Livorno had already been relegated.

Internazionale

In January 2011 he was signed by

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

, on loan with an option to purchase half of the registration rights and he played for Inter's U-19 youth team until the end of the 2010–11 season. He replaced injured

Raffaele Di Gennaro Raffaele Di Gennaro (born 3 October 1993) is an Italian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Gubbio. Club career Inter Milan Di Gennaro was the starting goalkeeper for Inter Milan U19, who ended up winning the NextGen Series and th ...

as first choice, winning

2011 Torneo di Viareggio The 2011 winners of the Torneo di Viareggio (in English, the Viareggio Tournament, officially the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale), the annual youth football tournament held in Viareggio, Tuscany, are listed below. Format ...

. Inter excised the rights for €1.35 million in a 4-year contract (with part of transfer credit turned to the purchase of

Simone Dell'Agnello Simone Dell'Agnello (born 22 April 1992) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for Serie D club Franciacorta. Club career Youth career Born in Livorno, Tuscany, Dell'Agnello joined Lombard club Inter Milan in 2007. He was the club's t ...

for €500,000 and

Luca Siligardi Luca Siligardi (born 26 January 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Feralpisalò. Club career A native from the province of Reggio Emilia, he started his career at regional team likes Campagnola ...

for €150,000) but on 3 August 2011 returned Bardi on loan to Livorno for the 2011–12 season, in order to gain first team experience. On 27 August 2011 he made his

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 ...

debut playing as the first choice goalkeeper in the away match won 2–1 against

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

. In the whole season Bardi was ahead original starter

Alfonso De Lucia Alfonso De Lucia (born 12 November 1983) is an Italian football coach and a former player who played as a goalkeeper. Career Parma De Lucia was signed by Parma A.C. from S.S.C. Napoli, as part of the deal of Paolo Cannavaro. De Lucia made his ...

. In June 2012, Inter bought Bardi outright for another €4 million (€1.5 million cash plus Dell'Agnello and Siligardi to Livorno for €1.25 million each) and on 14 July 2012, let him join

team

Novara Calcio Novara Football Club, commonly referred to as Novara, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Novara, Piedmont. The club was founded in 2021 by the Novara, City of Novara to replace old Novara Calcio that lost its professional s ...

on a loan deal. At Novara he was the first choice goalkeeper for the duration of the season and generated significant hype around himself with his good performances, making 35 appearances. After the expiration of the loan, Internazionale again loaned him out, this time back to newly promoted Serie A side Livorno Calcio.

Loan to ChievoVerona

On 27 June 2014, Bardi was loaned out to Serie A side

A.C. Chievo Verona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a ...

for the 2014–15 season. On 22 August he made his debut for Chievo Verona in the third round of

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

in a 1–0 away defeat against

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 ...

. On 30 August, Bardi made his

debut in a 1–0 home defeat against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. On 14 September he save a penalty from

Gonzalo Higuain Gonzalo may refer to: * Gonzalo (name) * Gonzalo, Dominican Republic, a small town * Isla Gonzalo, a subantarctic island operated by the Chilean Navy * Hurricane Gonzalo, 2014 See also * Gonzalez (disambiguation) * Gonzales (disambiguation) * ...

in a 1–0 away win over

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 ...

. On 26 October he save another penalty in a 2–1 home defeat against

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 ...

. Bardi play the first 9

match, but he became the second goalkeeper after the arrive of

Albano Bizzarri Albano Benjamín Bizzarri (born 9 November 1977) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the vast majority of his professional career in Spain and Italy, starting out at Real Madrid in 1999. Club care ...

. On 17 May he made the last appearances in a 2–0 away defeat against

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. Bardi ended his loan to Chievo Verona with 11 appearances, kept 1 clean sheet and conceding 18 goals.

Loan to Espanyol

On 26 July 2015, he was signed by

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

with a season-long loan with option to buy, for replacing

Kiko Casilla Francisco "Kiko" Casilla Cortés (; born 2 October 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Getafe CF. He started playing for Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, ...

. On 3 December he made his debut for Espanyol in the round of 32 of the

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 ...

in a 1–1 away draw against Levante. On 13 January, Bardi played in the round of 16 of the

in a 2–0 home defeat against

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. At the end of January, Bardi was recall to

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

and he finish his loan to Espanyol with only 2 appearances.

Loan to Frosinone

On 28 January 2016, Bardi was signed with a 6-month loan from

club

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

. He is the second goalkeeper after Nicola Leali. On 1 May, Bardi made his debut for

in a 3–3 away draw against

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 ...

, in this match he save a penalty from

Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club Sion. Balotelli started his professional football career in 2005 at Lumezzane, before ...

. One week later he play in the last match of

in 1–0 home defeat against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

. He followed the club relegated to Serie B, which Frosinone borrowed him for another season, with an option to sign outright. On 13 August he made played his first game of the season in the third round of Coppa Italia in a 2–0 away defeat against Pescara. On 27 August, Bardi played his first Serie B match for Frosinone in a 2–0 home win over

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . History 1914: Foundation The club was founded in 1914 as Foot-Ball Club ...

. The loan was renewed again on 13 July 2017.

Bologna

On 17 July 2021, he signed with

club

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

International career

With the Italy U17 team he took part, as the backup goalkeeper, at both the 2009 European U17 Championship and the 2009 U17 World Cup. On 24 March 2011 he made his debut with the Italy U21 squad in a friendly game against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. Bardi finished as the runner-up of

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

. The coach also stated that the exclusion of

Mattia Perin Mattia Perin (; born 10 November 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Juventus. He also represented the Italy national team. He began his career with Genoa in 2010, and, aside from two season-long loa ...

from the U21 squad was to avoid competition between first choice and backup keeper. Bardi took part, as a starter, also at the

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bardi, Francesco 1992 births Footballers from Livorno Living people Italian men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players US Livorno 1915 players Inter Milan players Novara FC players AC ChievoVerona players Frosinone Calcio players RCD Espanyol footballers Bologna FC 1909 players AC Reggiana 1919 players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers