Leandro Rinaudo (born 9 May 1983) is an Italian former

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 defender, and a current sports director.

Early years

He comes from the

Kalsa Kalsa or Mandamento Tribunali is a historical quarter of the Italian city of Palermo in Sicily. It is sometimes referred to as la Kalsa or the Kalsa. Names The common name of the quarter, ''Kalsa'', derives from the district's historic Arabic ...

neighbourhood of Palermo.

Club career

Palermo

A youth product of

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 ...

, Rinaudo was loaned to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

club

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

in the first year of

Maurizio Zamparini Maurizio Zamparini (9 June 1941 – 1 February 2022) was an Italian businessman. He was the owner and director of football club U.S. Città di Palermo between July 2002 – February 2017 and from July 2017 – December 2018. Biography Zampari ...

's era. The loan was pre-matured in January 2003. However, he failed to enter the first team as Zamparini bought a couple of players from his former club

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. On 30 August 2003, Rinaudo was loaned to

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 ...

club

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

, also playing for the Salernitana youth team in the Coppa Italia Primavera as an overage player. After Palermo won promotion to

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 ...

in 2004 as Serie B champion, Rinaudo was excluded from the club's Serie A plan and was loaned to another Serie B club

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

, where he started to play as one of the regular starters. Rinaudo returned to Palermo on 1 July 2005. That season, he served as a backup for Christian Terlizzi,

Giuseppe Biava Giuseppe Biava (born 8 May 1977) is an Italian football coach and former player who played as a centre back. Throughout his career he played for Italian clubs Albinese, AlbinoLeffe, Biellese, Palermo, Genoa, Lazio, and Atalanta; he won a Co ...

Cristian Zaccardo Cristian Zaccardo (; born 21 December 1981) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. He mainly played as a centre back, although he was also capable of playing as a full-back or in midfield. He began his club career with Ital ...

(right back or centre back) and

Andrea Barzagli Andrea Barzagli (; born 8 May 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. A four-time member of the Serie A Team of the Year, Barzagli is regarded as one of the best and most consistent defenders in Italian fo ...

and therefore only made seven starts in the league, in addition to three starts in the

2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...

. In the 2006–07 Serie A season, near the end of summer transfer window, Rinaudo left for fellow Serie A club

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 ...

along with

Paul Codrea Paul Constantin Codrea (; born 4 April 1981 in Timișoara) is a Romanian football manager and former player. A former midfielder, he was part of the Romanian squad at UEFA Euro 2008. Playing career Club Paul Codrea started playing football in ...

. Rinaudo partnered with Daniele Portanova as centre-back, and the team improved in goal conceded, which made Rinaudo earn a third return to Palermo. He made 21 starts in Serie A that season, in which he mainly competed with Biava for the central back position to partner with Barzagli and Zaccardo, usually as right back and

Mattia Cassani Mattia Cassani (; born 26 August 1983) is an Italian footballer who last played as a defender for Bari. Club career Juventus Cassani started his career at Juventus during the 2002–03 Serie A season, and then left for Sampdoria on loan in J ...

sometimes as a right winger or left back.

Napoli

On 4 June 2008, Rinaudo was sold to fellow Serie A club

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 ...

for €5.5 million, signing a five-year contract. He was not a regular in his first season at Napoli, however, mainly serving as a backup behind

Fabiano Santacroce Whellington Fabiano Santacroce (born 24 August 1986) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defender in the centre or on the left. He was born in Brazil to an Italian father and an Afro-Brazilian mother, then spending his ...

Paolo Cannavaro Paolo Cannavaro (; born 26 June 1981) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. After beginning his career with S.S.C. Napoli, Napoli, he moved to Parma A.C., Parma in 1999, where he played a ...

and

Matteo Contini Matteo Contini (born 16 April 1980) is an Italian football coach and former defender. Playing career Milan He started his professional career in the A.C. Milan youth system. He was then farmed to Serie C1 teams Livorno (loan), SPAL (loan), M ...

In 2009–10, Rinaudo made just 13 starts in

. As Napoli preferred 3–5–2 formation,

Salvatore Aronica Salvatore Aronica (born 20 January 1978) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender, currently in charge as head coach of Eccellenza Sicily amateurs Don Carlo Misilmeri. Playing career Aronica spent his early ca ...

, Paolo Cannavaro, Gianluca Grava,

Hugo Campagnaro Hugo Armando Campagnaro (; born 27 June 1980) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a centre back. A full international for Argentina since 2012, Campagnaro has earned 17 caps for his country, and two years later was selec ...

and

were usually starters, relegating Rinaudo to the backup centre back role. Rinaudo did not receive a call-up for Napoli's first official match of the 2010–11 season, against

Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spe ...

in the UEFA Europea League. The coach used Cannavaro, Aronica, Campagnaro and Grava in the first three matches and demoted Rinaudo to sixth-choice centre back behind Santacroce (who typically played as unused substitute).

Juventus

As a result of not being called up to the opening game for Napoli in Serie A, Rinaudo opted for and completed a loan move to

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 ...

on 31 August for a fee of €600,000, with an option to make the transfer permanent for €5 million, thus re-joining former Napoli teammate

Fabio Quagliarella Fabio Quagliarella (; born 31 January 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Sampdoria, whom he captains. Throughout his career, Quagliarella has played for eight different Italian clubs, winning ...

, Palermo teammate Amauri and former Palermo coach

Luigi Delneri Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written as Del Neri, is an Italian football manager and a former player. After a playing career as a midfielder including for several Serie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, a ...

. Napoli also signed centre-back

Emílson Cribari Emílson Sánchez Cribari (born 6 March 1980) is a Brazilian footballer who played as a centre back. Career Cribari started his career in his home state of Paraná, with Londrina Esporte Clube. From Londrina, he moved to Italy where he bega ...

on the same day. Rinaudo would be the backup centre back along with Nicola Legrottaglie to cover first choice defenders

Giorgio Chiellini Giorgio Chiellini (; born 14 August 1984) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Considered one of the best defenders of his generation, Chiellini is known for his strengt ...

and

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

. Rinaudo also set to join

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 ...

but never completed. He made his club debut on 26 September 2010, but unusually as a right back; the head coach rested right back

Marco Motta Marco Motta (; born 14 May 1986) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right back. Motta is a former Italy international and made his senior international appearance in 2010; at youth level, he participated in the 2008 Summer ...

and moved

Zdeněk Grygera Zdeněk Grygera (; born 14 May 1980) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a defender. Club career Early career Grygera began his career at Petra Drnovice before moving to Sparta Prague. Ajax In July 2003, he was signed ...

to left back to replace the injured

Paolo De Ceglie Paolo De Ceglie (; born 17 September 1986) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left-back, wing-back, or as a winger. He spent most of his career with Italian club Juventus, where he won three Serie A titles, among oth ...

. That match, Juve defeated

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

4–2. Before the start of the next match, however, a group stage match in 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 ...

against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, Rinaudo was injured and had an operation on the

Lumbosacral joint The lumbosacral joint is a joint of the body, between the last lumbar vertebra and the first sacral segment of the vertebral column The vertebral column, also known as the backbone or spine, is part of the axial skeleton. The vertebral colum ...

Novara

On 1 July 2011, Rinaudo returned to Napoli, though he was excluded from 2011–12 UEFA Champions League 25-men senior squad. He still earned a reported €850,000. On 11 January 2012, he was loaned to Serie A strugglers

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

, who sat 18th in the league table at the time.

Livorno

Rinaudo made several appearances for

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. Infamously, he made a nasty, from-behind tackle on

Giuseppe Rossi Giuseppe Rossi (; born 1 February 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward. Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal and Fiorentina, in addition to spells with other clubs in England, I ...

that damaged Rossi's knee and kept him out of football for months. Rinaudo's tackle was so poor that he drew international condemnation.

Serie B

In the summer of 2014, Rinaudo was signed by

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . History 1914: Foundation The club was founded in 1914 as Foot-Ball Club ...

. In January 2015, he was signed by Bari. On 20 September 2015, he was signed by

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 th ...

. On 20 January 2016, however, he was released.

International career

Rinaudo never received any call-up from Italy at youth level, although during the 2004–05 season, he received several call-ups from

Italy under-21 Serie B representative team Italy national under-21 football B team is the Italy national football team that represents Serie B at competitions and is controlled by the Lega B. Due to sponsorship reasons, the team was credited as Under-21 Serie B TIM until 2010. They are ...

. He was capped once at international level, in the team's only game of the team that season 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 ...

; he replaced Marco Pomante in the second half. The Italy under-21 Serie B side won the match 3–2.

After retiring

After he retired in 2016, Rinaudo was hired as a scout and the right hand of the sporting director at

. In October 2017, he changed position and was hired by the club as the new technical director. In June 2018, he was hired by

U.S. Cremonese Unione Sportiva Cremonese, commonly referred to as Cremonese, is an Italian football club based in Cremona, Lombardy, which plays in the . History Cremonese was in the Serie A in its first season, 1929–30, but entered a long period of decli ...

as their sporting director. He was fired on 28 February 2019. On 3 August 2019, he returned to his native Palermo, joining the newly refounded club (now in

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 ...

) as the head of the youth system area. On 28 July 2022, following the resignations of head coach

Silvio Baldini Silvio Baldini (born 11 September 1958 in Massa) is an Italian association football manager, last in charge of Serie B club Perugia. Career Early years Born in Massa but hailing from nearby Carrara, Baldini started his coaching career in 1984 ...

and director of football Renzo Castagnini a few weeks after

City Football Group City Football Group Limited (CFG) is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The group is owned by three organisations; of which 81% is majority owned by Newton Investment and Development LLC, 18% by the American firm Si ...

's takeover of Palermo was completed, Rinaudo was promoted to sporting director on an interim basis. On 20 October 2022, Rinaudo was permanently appointed sporting director. On 5 June 2024, after nearly two seasons in charge as sporting director, Palermo confirmed Rinaudo's departure from the club.

References

External links

Palermo Profile

Lega Calcio official site Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rinaudo, Leandro 1983 births Living people Italian men's footballers Palermo FC players SSD Varese Calcio players US Salernitana 1919 players AC Cesena players Siena FC SSD players SSC Napoli players Juventus FC players Novara FC players US Livorno 1915 players Virtus Entella players SSC Bari players LR Vicenza players Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football central defenders Footballers from Palermo