Francesco "Ciccio" Caputo (born 6 August 1987) 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

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

for

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 ...

, on loan from

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. He represents the Italy national team.

Club career

Caputo started his career in the Pugliesi amateur divisions, first with

Toritto Toritto ( Barese: or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia, southern Italy. It lies in an agricultural area, growing mainly almond and olive trees, about 20 km from the Adriatic Sea. History T ...

and then with Real

Altamura Altamura (, ; nap, label= Barese, Ialtamùre) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is located on one of the hills of the Murge plateau in the Metropolitan City of Bari, southwest of Bari, close to the border with Basilic ...

, before joining

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

in the summer of 2008. With the club, Caputo won the Serie B title during the 2008–09 season, but he was excluded from Bari's

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 ...

plans the following season. In mid-2009, he was loaned to Salernitana, along with his teammates Giuseppe Statella and

Gianluca Galasso Gianluca Galasso (born 18 January 1984) is an Italian footballer who plays as a right back. Career Roma Born in Lazio region, Galasso started his professional career at capital club A.S. Roma. He played his first Serie A match at the last match ...

. The following season he was loaned out to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. He returned to Bari in 2011, and remained at the club for four seasons. In 2015, he joined

Entella Éntella (Greek language, Greek: ), was an ancient city in the interior of Sicily, situated on the left bank of the river Hypsas (modern Belice), and nearly midway between the two seas, being about 40 km from the mouth of the Hypsas, and ...

on loan with an option to buy; at the end of the season, he was signed outright by the club. He remained with Entella for two seasons, scoring 35 goals. On 18 August 2017,

signed Caputo on a four-year contract for €2.8 million plus bonuses. 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

Alfredo Donnarumma Alfredo Donnarumma (; born 30 November 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for club Ternana. Club career Torre Annunziata Born in Torre Annunziata, near Napoli, Alfredo started his playing ...

; together, the pair scored 49 goals, and Caputo finished as the top scorer in the league, with 26 goals, while Donnarumma finished as the second-highest scorer with 23. On 13 July 2019, Caputo signed to

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 ...

. On 31 August 2021, Caputo joined

on loan with an obligation to buy. On 2 January 2023, Caputo returned to former club Empoli on loan with an obligation to buy should his new club avoid relegation.

International career

Caputo was called up to the senior Italy squad for the UEFA Nations League matches against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in September 2020. Caputo made his debut for the national team on 7 October 2020, in a 6–0 home win against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

in a friendly match, also scoring the second goal of the match.

Style of play

A technically gifted

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 ...

, with an eye for goal, Caputo mainly plays as a

, although he is capable of playing anywhere along the front line. He is mainly known in the media for his pace, work-rate, movement off the ball, and his powerful and accurate striking ability.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Caputo goal.''

Honours

Bari *

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 ...

: 2008–09 Empoli *Serie B: 2017–18 Individual *Serie B top scorer: 2017–18

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caputo, Francesco 1987 births Living people People from Altamura Footballers from Apulia Association football forwards Italian footballers Italy international footballers A.S. Noicattaro Calcio players S.S.C. Bari players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players A.C.R. Siena 1904 players Virtus Entella players Empoli F.C. players U.S. Sassuolo Calcio players U.C. Sampdoria players Serie A players Serie B players Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Bari