Giuseppe Pezzella (born 29 November 1997) 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 left-back for

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 ...

club

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 ...

Club career

Palermo

Pezzella is a youth product from

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 ...

. He made his

debut with the senior side on 6 December 2015 against

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 ...

, replacing

Mato Jajalo Mato Jajalo (; born 25 May 1988) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Serie B club Venezia. Jajalo started his professional career at Slaven Belupo, before joining Siena in 2009. The following year, he wa ...

after 65 minutes of a 3–0 away defeat.

Udinese

On 30 June 2017, Pezzella joined Udinese on a five-year contract.

Loan to Genoa

On 21 January 2019, Pezzella joined to

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 ...

on loan with an option to buy until 30 June 2019.

Parma

On 27 August 2019, Pezzella signed to

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 ...

a five-year contract, but he was on loan until the end of 2019–20 season, with an obligation to buy.

Loan to Atalanta

On 27 July 2021, Pezzella moved to

on a season-long loan with option to buy, which would have become an obligation to buy if certain conditions were met.

Loan to Lecce

On 26 August 2022, Pezzella was loaned by

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 ...

, with an option to buy.

Empoli

On 31 July 2023, Serie A side Empoli announced the free signing of Pezzella on a three-year contract, with an option for a further year.

International career

With the Italy U-20 side, Pezzella took part at the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 as ...

, winning the bronze medal. The same year, he was also called up by the Italy U-21 manager Luigi Di Biagio for the

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2017) was the 21st edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, a biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 na ...

, following Nicola Murru's injury, although he did not appear in the tournament. Italy were eliminated by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in the semi-finals of the competition on 27 June, following a 3–1 defeat. Pezzella made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 1 September 2017, in a 3–0 friendly loss against

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* 1997 births Living people Footballers from Naples Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football fullbacks Serie A players Palermo FC players Udinese Calcio players Genoa CFC players Parma Calcio 1913 players Atalanta BC players US Lecce players Empoli FC players Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers {{Italy-footy-defender-1990s-stub