Marco Benassi (born 8 September 1994) 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

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 ...

for club

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

, on loan from

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 ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

, Benassi began his career at his local club

. In January 2011 Benassi was signed by

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 Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

on a temporary deal. After a half-season with the Inter U17 youth team, Benassi signed for Inter permanently in a co-ownership deal for €180,000. Benassi was a member of both Inter U18 and U19 team in 2011–12 season, winning the Primavera league and European title –

NextGen Series The NextGen Series was a European football club cup competition for under-19 footballers. It was designed to provide players with the opportunity to match themselves against other elite European footballers of their agegroup in a competitive envi ...

. He also played for the U18 team in the league playoffs round, winning the Berretti league. Benassi was included in summer training camp by his former U19 team coach Andrea Stramaccioni, winning the pre-season

TIM Trophy The TIM Trophy is a football pre-season tournament that was firstly contested in August 2001. It is not sanctioned or recognized by official football bodies since the gameplay rules do not correspond to IFAB/FIFA laws of football. For the first twe ...

and well as being included in the 25-men List A squad for

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Aren ...

; as one of the four essential association trained player (local player) as required by UEFA. In October 2012 he signed a new five-year contract. Benassi made his senior debut for Inter 22 November 2012 against Russian side Rubin Kazan in the starting XI. Fielding a younger squad, Inter lost 3–0. On 12 January 2013, he made his

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 ...

debut for Inter, starting in a 2–0 victory over

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

. On 21 February 2013, he scored his first senior goal against CFR Cluj.

Loan to Livorno

On 9 July 2013, he was transferred on loan to

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 ...

, making his competitive debut on 17 August in a 1–0

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

defeat against

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 ...

. He scored his first goal in the Italian top flight on 26 January 2014 at home to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

, before scoring his second of the season on 16 March against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Torino

On 1 July 2014, it was officially announced that Benassi was sold to

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

under a co-ownership agreement, as part of the transfer that brought

Danilo D'Ambrosio Danilo D'Ambrosio (born 9 September 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or as a right-back for club Inter Milan and the Italy national team. Club career Early career Born in Naples, D'Ambrosio began playing ...

to Inter in January. He made his debut for the ''Granata'' as a substitute during the third round of the 2014–15 Europa League which Torino won 3–0 against Swedish club

Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is t ...

. On 18 January 2015 he scored his first goal for Torino against

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 ...

. He scored again on 8 March after entering as a substitute for

Alessandro Gazzi Alessandro Gazzi (born 28 January 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He became an honorary citizen of the city of Reggio Calabria on 27 May 2007. Club career Early career He began his fo ...

, marking the final goal in a 3–2 defeat at the

Stadio Friuli The Stadio Friuli (known for sponsorship reasons as Dacia Arena) is an all-seater football stadium in Udine, Italy, and the home of Serie A club Udinese. The stadium was built in 1976 and has a capacity of 25,144. It is sponsored by Romanian ca ...

against Udinese. He returned to the scoresheet in the final game of the season against Cesena (the match ended 5–0 in favour of Torino). On 25 June 2015, the deadline for the expiration of the co-ownership, Torino acquired the other half of his contract for an additional €3.3 million, after winning a blind auction against the reported €2.9 million offered by the ''Nerazzurri''. At the start of his second season with the club he changed his shirt number, from 94 to 15. During a 2–1 win over

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 ...

on 27 September 2015, Benassi scored with a volley reminiscent of

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

's strike in the final of Euro 88. On 7 February 2016 he opened the scoring in a home loss against

Chievo Verona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Football in Italy, Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and o ...

. He finished the season with 32 appearances in which he scored three goals. He scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season in a 2–1 win against

on 2 October 2016; a match in which he also wore the captain's armband for the first time for Torino.

Fiorentina

On 9 August 2017,

announced the signing of Benassi on a five-year deal.

Hellas Verona (loan)

On 12 September 2020, Benassi joined Hellas Verona on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long loan, with option to buy. However, due to various injuries, he missed the entire season, making only one appearance on the team's substitutes bench on 20 February 2021 for the Serie A game against

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 ...

. At the season's end, he returned to Fiorentina.

Empoli (loan)

On 22 January 2022, Benassi moved to

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 ...

on loan.

Cremonese (loan)

On 19 January 2023, Benassi joined

on loan for the rest of the 2022–23 season.

International career

Benassi played all 3 games in the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualification The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (qualifying round) was the first round of qualifications for the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament. The 48 participating teams were divided into 12 groups of four teams, with each ...

. He made his debut with the Italy under-21 squad on 14 August 2013, under Luigi Di Biagio, in the friendly match

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

-Italy (1–4). From 10–12 March 2014, he was called up by the head coach of the senior national team,

Cesare Prandelli Claudio Cesare Prandelli (; born 19 August 1957) is an Italian football coach and former player. He was most recently head coach of Fiorentina. Career Player Prandelli was a midfielder who moved from Atalanta to Juventus in 1979. His first game ...

, as part of an evaluate of young players ahead of the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. He took part in the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

where he scored a brace in the last game of the group stage against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Benassi began the subsequent biennial cycle as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the under-21 squad. In May 2016 he was called up to the senior national team by coach

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later b ...

in preparation for the

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

. He was subsequently included in the list of 30 provisional players for the tournament. On 31 May, he was named one of three reserves for the senior side for Euro 2016. On 7 October, he was called up again, this time by

Gian Piero Ventura Gian Piero Ventura (; born 14 January 1948) is an Italian football manager. His playing career as a midfielder was spent in the lower leagues, having not made the grade at Sampdoria, where he began his coaching career with the youth team in 1 ...

, as a replacement for the injured

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 ...

for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Macedonia. In June 2017, he was included in the Italy under-21 squad 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 ...

by manager Di Biagio. 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 on 27 June, following a 3–1 defeat.

Style of play

A talented, hard-working, well-rounded and versatile box-to-box

, Benassi is capable of playing both as a defensive midfielder or as a more offensive minded

central 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 ...

; he has also been used as a winger. In addition, he is both a skilled tackler and physically strong with good vision and technique, as well as an ability to time and make late attacking runs from behind into the box. He also possesses a good ability to strike from distance.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Inter Milan *

Campionato Nazionale Primavera The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in th ...

: 2011–12 *

NextGen series The NextGen Series was a European football club cup competition for under-19 footballers. It was designed to provide players with the opportunity to match themselves against other elite European footballers of their agegroup in a competitive envi ...

: 2011–12

References

External links

FIGC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benassi, Marco 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Modena Footballers from Emilia-Romagna Italian footballers Association football midfielders Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Modena F.C. players Inter Milan players U.S. Livorno 1915 players Torino F.C. players ACF Fiorentina players Hellas Verona F.C. players Empoli F.C. players U.S. Cremonese players Serie A players