Luca Saudati (born 18 January 1978 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

) is an Italian

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 played as a winger or as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Football career

Saudati started his career at the

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

youth system. After relatively unsuccessful loan stints at various clubs - including AC Lugano of the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

of Serie B,

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''). ...

and

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco dialect, Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and ...

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 ...

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 ...

of Serie B and

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

of Serie A - he eventually joined

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 ...

of Serie A in June 2001, tagged for 18 billion

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

. as part of

Massimo Donati Massimo Donati (born 26 March 1981) is an Italian football coach, pundit and former professional player, who played as a central or defensive midfielder. He is the manager of Legnago Salus in Serie D. Born in San Vito al Tagliamento, Ita ...

and

Cristian Zenoni Cristian Zenoni (; born 23 April 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He is the twin brother of former footballer Damiano Zenoni. Club career Zenoni started his career at his native club Atalanta B.C., j ...

's deal to Milan for 60 billion lire. However, after scoring no goals in a whole season for Atalanta, he was loaned out again to Empoli of Serie A in the summer of 2002 after poor performance. He broke his leg in November, ruling him out of training and play. When he returned to Atalanta in the summer of 2003, they had dropped to Serie B; despite them being promoted that season, he made just 5 appearances and was loaned once again to Empoli of Serie B in January 2005. He returned to Atalanta once again in summer 2005, again in Serie B. He scored 3 goals in 12 games before loaned out again 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 ...

team

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce, commonly referred to as Lecce (), is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2022–23 season, the top level of the Italian football pyramid, having been promoted from Serie B ...

, to join his former 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 ...

while at Empoli during the 2002–03 season, but soon Baldini was sacked by the club and Saudati only made 4 appearances in Serie A. Fortunes changed for Saudati in the summer of 2006. He joined Empoli of Serie A on free transfer in summer 2006, and signed a 3-year contract,uefa.com
(Thursday, 20 July 2006) where he became team-topscorer of the 2006–07 season with 14 league goals and 4 in the Italian Cup. Saudati's natural position is

left winger 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 ...

but during his time at Empoli enjoyed much success as a

. Saudati was, not surprisingly, voted into the 2006–07 Italian PFA Giocatori Squadra Dell'Anno (Italy's PFA player's team of the season) whilst he also became Empoli's player of the year and received an award for most improved player in the 2006–07 season.

Honours

;Empoli *

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 ...

(1) : 2004–05

Footnotes

External links

Gazzetta dello Sport profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saudati, Luca 1978 births Living people Italian footballers Footballers from Milan A.C. Milan players A.C. Monza players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Como 1907 players Empoli F.C. players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Atalanta B.C. players U.S. Lecce players Spezia Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Association football forwards Italian expatriate footballers Swiss Super League players FC Lugano players Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland