Gaetano D'Agostino (; born 3 June 1982) is an Italian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and current

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. Usually a

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 ...

, D'Agostino is best known for his incisive passing.

Club career

Early career

D'Agostino was brought up in the

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

youth system, in

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

youth system only for two seasons because he was progressing enormously and, in 2001, went to

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 ...

with co-ownership rights as part of the deal that brought

Antonio Cassano Antonio Cassano (; born 12 July 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A talented and technically gifted player, he was usually deployed as a supporting forward, but could also play as an attacking midfield ...

to Roma. He was tagged for 5 billion Italian lire for 50% of the rights. He then came back to Roma for €1,291,142 and signed a new three-year contract in June 2003 in but did not figure much.

Messina

In January 2005 he was loaned to

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

on loan with option to sign in co-ownership deal for €750,000. In half a season at Messina, he made 42 appearances and scored 4 goals, being instrumental for the club's impressive performances in the Serie A league, including a seventh place in 2004–05, the best top flight placement in Messina history. In June 2006 Messina bought the remaining rights for €60,000.

Udinese

On 7 July 2006, he was bought by

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

for a reported €1.2 million, where he firmly established himself as a regular, also achieving a place in the Italy national team during his stay with the

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia ...

-based side. He made sensational performances during the 2008–2009 Serie A season.

Fiorentina

On 3 June 2010, he was sold to

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 ...

for a reported fee between €9 and 10 million. ''La Viola'' later announced they signed him in a co-ownership deal, for €5.75 million. He made his debut on 29 August 2010, scoring Fiorentina's only goal in a 1–1 draw at home against

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 ...

. After the injury of

Riccardo Montolivo Riccardo Montolivo (; born 18 January 1985) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He most notably played for Fiorentina, AC Milan, and the Italy national team. A versatile and creative player, Montolivo began ...

, D'Agostino partnered with Marco Donadel as the central midfielders.

Joining Siena via Udinese

In the middle of 2011, D'Agostino returned to Udinese after they won his 50% rights in a blind auction, Udinese winning with a bid of €110,000 to €50,000. D'Agostino said that “It still hurts a little that Fiorentina didn’t keep me,” and expressed his desire to remain in Florence, having earlier said he loved living in the city. On 7 July, Siena agreed a deal to sign the playmaker. He left Siena at the end of the 2013–14 season, after the club declared bankruptcy.

International career

D'Agostino was a member of the Italy U-21 squad, making 17 appearances and scoring 4 goals. He received his first senior call-up in November 2008, but did not play, making his debut on 6 June 2009 in a friendly match against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Coaching career

After retirement, he took over a head coaching role at

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 ...

amateurs Anzio in 2016. In June 2017 he was named new head coach of

Lega Pro 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 Virtus Francavilla. On 12 June 2018, he was appointed as coach of

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

, signing a two-year contract. He left the club on 17 February 2019. On 4 October 2019, he was hired as head coach of

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

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label=Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...

. On 27 June 2021, he joined

Vibonese Unione Sportiva Vibonese Calcio is an Italian association football club located in Vibo Valentia, Calabria. It currently plays in Serie D. History Vibonese was founded in 1928. The club in the season 2011–12 was relegated from Lega Pro Se ...

. He was sacked on 14 February 2022, with Vibonese in last place in the league table.

References

External links

Profile at La Gazetta dello Sport 2009–10
{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Agostino, Gaetano 1982 births Living people Footballers from Palermo Men's association football midfielders Italian footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers A.S. Roma players S.S.C. Bari players A.C.R. Messina players Udinese Calcio players ACF Fiorentina players A.C.R. Siena 1904 players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Fidelis Andria 2018 players Benevento Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Italian football managers U.S. Alessandria Calcio 1912 managers Calcio Lecco 1912 managers Serie C managers