Lauri Dalla Valle (born 14 September 1991) is a Finnish former 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 ...

who played as a striker. After playing youth football for

JIPPO JIPPO is a Finnish football club, based in Joensuu. It plays in the Kakkonen, the third highest level of Finnish football. Jippo plays its home matches at Mehtimäki, Joensuu. JIPPO was formed in 2001 after the merger of JiiPee and Ratanat&nb ...

and

Inter Milan 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 ...

, Dalla Valle moved to England in 2008 to join

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. After two seasons he joined Fulham, and while there spent spells with Bournemouth,

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

and

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, leaving the club in 2013. After spells in Norway (with Molde) and Belgium (with

Sint-Truiden Sint-Truiden (; french: link=no, Saint-Trond ; li, Sintruin ) is a city and municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium, and has over 41,500 inhabitants, which makes it one of the largest cities in Limburg. The mun ...

), he returned to England in 2014 to rejoin Crewe Alexandra. Dalla Valle is also a former youth international, representing Finland at every level up to and including under-21.

Early life

Dalla Valle was born in

Kontiolahti Kontiolahti ( sv, Kontiolax; literally meaning "bear bay") is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia regions of Finland, region, about north of Joensuu. The municipality has a population of () and ...

, near the city of

Joensuu Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. The ...

, Finland on 14 September 1991, one of three children to Loreno, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

former

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

and mushroom company boss, and Marketta, who is Finnish.

Club career

Early career

Dalla Valle began his career in Finland with

, and his talent saw him join

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 t ...

's youth team in 2005. However, Dalla Valle, struggling with the language, soon became homesick and returned to Finland after a few months. He started the 2007 season with JIPPO in the Finnish First Division, but was seriously injured in the fourth round of the Finnish Cup in May 2007, and was out for several months. He scored his only senior goal of the 2007 season in that match before being injured. In the end he only played in 8 matches in Finnish Division I (Miesten Ykkönen) in the 2007 season. He was a transfer target for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in October 2007.

Liverpool

In early November 2007 he trialled with Liverpool, for the second time (the original time being in November 2006) and he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with the club a few days later, arriving at the club in January 2008. He was part of the Liverpool team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2009 scoring 8 goals, including 4 against Birmingham in the two-legged semi-final. He was promoted to the Liverpool Reserves squad in June 2009 and started the 2009–10 season as a senior member of the reserves at Melwood. On 29 July 2010, he made his first and only appearance for

, coming on as a substitute for

Alberto Aquilani Alberto Aquilani (; born 7 July 1984) is an Italian football manager and former player. Mainly a central midfielder, he usually operated as a deep-lying playmaker, but was also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder. He is the head coach o ...

in the 83rd minute of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round tie against

FK Rabotnički FK Rabotnichki ( mk, ФК Работнички) or more commonly Rabotnički (old transliteration) and Rabotnicki is a football club that plays at the Toshe Proeski Arena in Skopje, North Macedonia. They currently compete in the Macedonian First ...

Fulham

On 31 August 2010, both Dalla Valle and fellow youngster Alex Kačaniklić signed for Fulham, as part of the deal that took left-back

Paul Konchesky Paul Martyn Konchesky (born 15 May 1981) is an English Association football, football coach and former professional player who currently manages West Ham United W.F.C., West Ham United Women of the FA WSL. During a 21-year playing career, Konch ...

to Liverpool. On 4 March 2011, Dalla Valle joined Bournemouth on a one-month loan. On 5 March 2011, Dalla Valle scored on his league debut for Bournemouth in a 3–0 home win over

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

. He scored his second goal for Bournemouth in a 1–3 defeat against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 12 March 2011. Dalla Valle made his Fulham debut as a substitute for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

match against

NSÍ Runavík NSÍ Runavík is a Faroese football club, playing in Runavík on the island of Eysturoy. It was founded 24 March 1957. In 2003 NSÍ participated for the first time on a European stage. In 2007, the club won the Faroe Islands Premier League fo ...

on 30 June 2011, before joining Scottish Premier League side

two months later on loan until mid-January. Dalla Valle joined

on a one-month loan deal on 19 March 2012. He returned to Fulham on 19 April 2012 after his loan expired. On 5 November 2012, Lauri joined

on loan until 8 December 2012. He scored on his debut the next day as Crewe won at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

, and then scored on his home debut in a 3–2 win over

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

. On 24 November, he scored both goals in a 2–0 win against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

Molde

Fulham confirmed that Dalla Valle had left the club on a permanent basis on 25 February 2013 to join Norwegian team Molde managed by ex–Manchester United player

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his car ...

. Dalla Valle played four matches without scoring a goal for Molde, until he left the club after half a year in July 2013.

Sint-Truiden

On 5 July 2013, Dalla Valle joined Belgian Second Division side Sint-Truiden on a three-year contract. He was released on 13 June 2014 after a single season. He then went on trial with

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

in July.

Crewe

He re-joined Crewe in December 2014, signing a contract until June 2016. Dalle Valle was released by Crewe at the end of the 2015–16 season.

Zemun

In August 2017 he joined newly promoted Serbian SuperLiga side

FK Zemun Fudbalski klub Zemun (Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Земун) is a Serbian professional football club based in Zemun, Belgrade, that competes in the Serbian League Belgrade. History Immediately after the end of the Second ...

. He made his debut in the 2017–18 Serbian SuperLiga on 26 August 2017, in the 7th round in a home game against FK Bačka Bačka Palanka in a home draw 1–1. He debuted as an 82nd-minute substitute of Lithuanian striker

Justas Lasickas Justas Lasickas (born 6 October 1997) is a Lithuanian professional footballer who plays as a right-back or a winger for Slovenian PrvaLiga club Olimpija Ljubljana and the Lithuania national team. Club career Lasickas debuted with Žalgiris ...

. He was released on 1 November 2017.

International career

Dalla Valle's father is Italian, and consequently he is eligible to represent

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

at international level, but some have said that it is unlikely that he will opt for Italy, and Dalla Valle has represented the Finnish under-17 side in qualifying for the 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Dalla Valle, however, has since refused to play for the Finnish under-21 side team in the 2011 European Championship qualification. U21 manager Markku Kanerva and the A national team coach Stuart Baxter criticised the decision. Stuart Baxter was supposed to invite Dalla Valle to

Finland national football team The Finland national football team ( fi, Suomen jalkapallomaajoukkue, sv, Finlands fotbollslandslag) represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body f ...

training camp in January 2009, but Liverpool forbid him to join based on club obligations.

Style of play

Dalla Valle was likened to a young

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

due to his speed, workrate and finishing ability.

Personal life

In June 2018, it was confirmed that Dalla Valle had retired from football to focus on his photography and consultancy company in Italy.

Career statistics

:Sources:

References

External links

Lauri Dalla Valle
at

K. Sint-Truidense V.V. Koninklijke Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereniging (), commonly known as Sint-Truiden or STVV () or by their nickname De Kanaries (, is a Belgian professional football club located in the city of Sint-Truiden in Limburg. Sint-Truiden plays in the Be ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalla Valle, Lauri 1991 births Living people Finnish people of Italian descent Men's association football forwards Finnish footballers JIPPO players Inter Milan players Liverpool F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Exeter City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Molde FK players Sint-Truidense V.V. players FK Zemun players Challenger Pro League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Eliteserien players Serbian SuperLiga players Finnish expatriate footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Serbia People from Kontiolahti Sportspeople from North Karelia