Francesco Lodi (born 23 March 1984) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club

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 ...

. He usually plays as a deep lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

, and is known for his passing qualities.

Club career

Empoli

Lodi started his career as part of

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 ...

youth system, being later promoted to the first team in 2003, despite his senior debut came during the 2000–01 season. During the winter transfer market, Empoli opted to loan the player out to Vicenza, in Serie B, for the player to gain regular playing time. He went on to make 11 appearances for the ''biancorossi'' before returning to Empoli for the 2004–05 season, following their relegation. In his first full season with the Tuscan side, Lodi made 27 league appearances, scoring six goals and helping them earn instant promotion back to Serie A. Lodi remained with Empoli, his first full season in Serie A. The midfielder made just 17 appearances, however, and failed to hold down first team football. He scored no goals.

Loan to Frosinone

For the 2006–07 season, Empoli loaned Lodi to Serie B side Frosinone for €50,000. Lodi instantly earned a starting role with the club, making 40 appearances out of a possible 42, scoring 11 goals. Despite his form, Empoli opted to keep the player at the Latium-based club in co-ownership deal for €1.4 million,Empoli FC SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2008
PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
/ref> where Lodi would continue his form. He went on to make 41 appearances for the second division side and scored a very impressive 20 goals as a midfielder. In January 2008, Empoli also bought back the 50% registration rights from Frosinone for €800,000.

Return to Empoli

Following Empoli's relegation from Serie A, the loan was not re-newed and the player spent the 2008–09 season with Empoli. He again performed with high standards, making 41 appearances and scoring 13 goals in league play. His form over the span of three seasons led to interest from a host of Serie A clubs, including Udinese, Atalanta and Chievo. At the start of the 2009–10 season, Lodi scored three goals in the first three games of Empoli's season, later joining Udinese on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season.

Udinese

On 28 August 2009, Lodi officially joined Udinese on loan from Empoli. During the season, Lodi found first team football hard to come by due to the presences of established midfielders Alexis Sánchez, Mauricio Isla, Gökhan Inler and Kwadwo Asamoah. Lodi went on to make 19 league appearances, scoring one goal. Udinese did not use the option to purchase the player outright, and he returned to Empoli on 30 June 2010.

Return to Frosinone

Following his Serie A top flight experience with Udinese, Lodi returned to Empoli but was instantly sold to Frosinone again on a co-ownership deal, for €300,000.Empoli FC SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2011
PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
/ref> In his return to Frosinone, Lodi returned immediately to first-team football, making 23 appearances (out of a possible 23) and scoring seven goals prior to the January transfer market, in which he again transferred clubs.

Catania

On 31 January 2011,

bought Lodi from Frosinone for €680,000, with Empoli retained 50% registration rights. Lodi also immediately joined Catania for the remainder of the 2010–11 season, in a two-and-a-half-year contract.Calcio Catania SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2011 His first two appearances for the Sicilian side were very low key, but on 13 February 2011, Lodi scored two fantastic free-kicks in a comeback 3–2 victory for Catania over

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

. Lodi was also the scorer of a stunning free-kick 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 ...

in the 96th minute of play, ending the game in a draw for Catania. In June 2011, Catania purchased Lodi outright for another €300,000. (the discount expressed as ''proventi da compartecipazioni '' in Catania's account) He has since made 83 league appearances for the club, scoring 18 goals. He also scored three goals in four appearances in the

2012–13 Coppa Italia The 2012–13 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 66th edition of the competition. As in the previous year, 78 clubs have taken part in the tournament. Napoli were the cup holders. Lazio were the winners, thus qua ...

Genoa

On 3 July 2013, Catania sent Lodi to Genoa in exchange Panagiotis Tachtsidis in a cashless player swap. Both clubs retained 50% registration rights ( co-ownership deal). The deal finalized in mid-July.

Catania (second time)

Lodi returned to Catania just six months after leaving the club, scoring a goal and providing an assist for Gonzalo Bergessio in his first match back, helping his club to defeat Bologna 2–0 at the

Stadio Angelo Massimino Stadio Angelo Massimino (previously known as Stadio Cibali) is a multi-use stadium in Catania, Italy. It is used mostly for football matches and the home of Calcio Catania. The stadium was built in 1935 by architect Raffaele Leone on behalf of ...

. In June 2014, the co-ownership deal also terminated.

Parma

Lodi was then loaned to Parma on 25 August 2014.

Return to Udinese

On 23 September 2015, Lodi rejoined former club Udinese as a free agent. He left the club on 17 February 2017.

Catania (third time)

After his contract at Udinese got terminated, the director of

confirmed on 2 March 2017, that Lodi was the first signing for the 2017–18 season.Catania, Lo Monaco: “Francesco Lodi primo acquisto della prossima stagione”
�� catania.blogsicilia.it, 2 March 2017

Triestina

On 8 January 2020 he signed a 1.5-year contract with Serie C club Triestina.

FC Messina

On 22 January 2021, Lodi left Triestina to sign a one-and-a-half year contract with Serie D club FC Messina.

Acireale

In August 2021, Lodi signed for Serie D club Acireale.

Catania (fourth time)

In August 2022, Lodi agreed to return to refounded Serie D club

International career

Lodi was a player of the Italian under-19 team. He took part in

2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship The 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 19th edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship, European Under-16 Football Championship. It was the last under-16 championship, before changing the name as under-17 championships. En ...

, the last named as under-16 event. Due to UEFA U-21 Championship had changed from an even year event to odd year event, new coach Pierluigi Casiraghi called him up as senior member of the squad for

2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2007 were held from 10 June 2007 to 23 June 2007. It was the 16th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. Summary For the first time, a host nation was chosen ahead of the competition – the Nethe ...

, eligible to players born 1984 or after. He made his Italy under-21 debut against Croatia in a friendly match on 15 August 2006 at the age of 22.FIGC
Lodi did not receive a call-up for 2004–06 season of U21.

Honours

Italy U19 * UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship:

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

References

External links

Official Player Profile
''at calciocatania.it''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lodi, Francesco 1984 births Living people Italian footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Association football forwards Footballers from Naples Empoli F.C. players Frosinone Calcio players L.R. Vicenza players Udinese Calcio players Catania S.S.D. players Genoa C.F.C. players Parma Calcio 1913 players U.S. Triestina Calcio 1918 players Italy under-21 international footballers Italy youth international footballers