Matteo Darmian (born 2 December 1989) 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 ...

who plays as a full-back for club

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 ...

. He began his career at

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 ...

, making his senior debut in 2006 at the age of 16 and

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 in 2007 at the age of 17. In 2009, he joined

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

on loan, whom he helped avoid relegation from

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 ...

in his only season there. He then signed for

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 ...

in 2010, and one year later joined

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 ...

, where he played for four seasons. He moved to Manchester United in July 2015, and in four years there, won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and

UEFA 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 ...

, before joining Parma in 2019. He signed a season-long loan deal with Inter in October 2020, who made the transfer permanent in February 2021. That season ended with Darmian winning the Serie A title, a first league championship of his career. The following season, he assisted the winning goal in the 2021 Italian Super Cup. Darmian made his senior debut for the Italy national team in May 2014, and represented his nation at the

2014 FIFA 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 ri ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Darmian grew up playing football in the main square in

Rescaldina Rescaldina () is a ''comune'' (municipality) that is part of the Metropolitan City of Milan, in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, with a population of 14,211 (as of 1 January 2019) distributed over about 8 km2 (3.1 sq mi) ...

and was trained by his father, Giovanni, who was one of the coaches of

Oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

team, U.S. CARCOR, where players such as

Marco Simone Marco Simone (; born 7 January 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a striker and winger. He most prominently played for Milan, with whom he won four Serie A championships and two UEFA Cham ...

and Luigi Pogliana also played. He often played as a

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

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 ...

in his youth. His first real break came when he was spotted by

Beniamino Abate Beniamino Abate (born 10 April 1962) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeping coach of the Milan Primavera (under-19) squad. He is the father of Ignazio Abate who played as right-bac ...

, a former

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

tasked with scouting

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

for young talent by

Club career

AC Milan

In 2000, Darmian joined Milan's

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

. He made his first-team debut for the ''Rossoneri'' on 28 November 2006, aged only 16, in the

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 ...

against

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

, replacing

Kakha Kaladze Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he was c ...

at half-time. He made his Serie A debut at the age of 17, in Milan's 3–2 defeat against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

on 19 May 2007, when he entered in the 67th minute to replace

Giuseppe Favalli Giuseppe Favalli (; born 8 January 1972) is an Italian former professional footballer. A versatile, consistent, tenacious and experienced defender, Favalli was capable of playing as a centre back as well as on the left or right flank as a full ...

. During the 2007–08 season he became the leader and

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 youth team, collecting another appearance for the first-team in the Coppa Italia. The following season, the 19-year-old defender collected an additional three league appearances. He ended his experience at Milan with four appearances in the top flight.

Padova (loan)

On 17 July 2009, Darmian moved to

club

on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season. He made his official debut for the club on 28 November 2009, in a home loss against

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 ...

. He went on to make 20 appearances and score one goal, as Padova finished the season in 19th place and subsequently won the

relegation play-off In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

against

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...

Palermo

On 11 July 2010, it was announced that Matteo Darmian would join

's pre-season training camp in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, after Milan and the Sicilian Serie A club agreed in principle about a transfer move involving him. The move, unveiled as a co-ownership bid, was officially announced by Palermo the next day. The fee was €800,000. Darmian made his debut for the ''Rosanero'' on 16 September 2010, in a

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 ...

game against

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

, which also earned him his debut in

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...

. His Palermo league debut was during the fourth game of the season, coming on for

Javier Pastore Javier Matías Pastore (; born 20 June 1989) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Qatar SC. Pastore began his club career with Talleres and then Huracán in his native Argentina before moving to Se ...

in a 3–1 win against

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 6 February 2011, he played his first game as a starter in the league in a 4–2 victory for Palermo away at

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 ...

, but was substituted in the 33rd minute due to injury. He finished the season with 16 appearances among

and

Torino

After Milan and Palermo renewed the co-ownership on 23 June 2011, he was officially loaned to Serie B side

on 12 July 2011. He made his debut for the ''Granata'' on 13 August 2011, in the second round of Coppa Italia against

Lumezzane Lumezzane (Brescian: ; locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. With a population of 22,255 () it is one of the largest towns in the province of Brescia. It is situated in the Gobbia Valley, which is a side val ...

; and scored his first goal on 30 October 2011, against

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 ...

, allowing his team to win 2–1. On 13 November 2011, he was injured against

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 ...

and sidelined for five games. At the end of the season, he was promoted to Serie A, having played 33 games in the league and one in the Coppa Italia. On 20 June 2012, Palermo redeemed his 50% share from Milan for €500,000 and on 5 July 2012, his return to Torino was formulised under a co-ownership agreement for €825,000.US Città di Palermo SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013, PDF purchased from

CCIAA The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Artisanship ( it, Camera di Commercio, Industria, Agricoltura e Artigianato, CCIAA) is a group of Italian organizations that promote business activities. Companies are required to register in the c ...

(in Italian) With Torino he played 30 games in

and two in the

. On 20 June 2013, Torino redeemed the remainder of his contract from Palermo for €1.5 million. In the 2013–14 season, he played 37 games in

for Torino, who finished 7th and qualified for the

after

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 ...

failed to obtain a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

license. He featured in the

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best during the previous c ...

, along with teammate,

Ciro Immobile Ciro Immobile (born 20 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Lazio, which he captains, and the Italy national team. Immobile began his career at Sorrento. In 2009, he was purchased by Juv ...

. On 18 May 2014, he made his 100th appearance for Torino during the 2–2 draw away to

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 ...

. In his first appearance of the 2014–15 season, on 7 August 2014, he scored his first goal in European competition, in a 4–0 victory against Sweden's

IF 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 ...

, in the second leg of the 2014–15 Europa League

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

. On 29 October 2014, he scored his first goal in Serie A to secure a 1–0 win over

, before returning to the score-sheet on 11 December 2014 in the Europa League

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

, won 5–1 away at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. On 26 February 2015, he scored the match-winner against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, qualifying Torino for the

round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

after a historic 3–2 victory in Spain. He concluded the season with 47 appearances and five goals between Serie A, Europe and the

. In total, he played 151 matches and scored six goals for Torino.

Manchester United

2015–16 season

On 11 July 2015, Darmian signed for English club

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £12.7 million. He signed a four-year contract with an option to extend it for a further year. He made his debut for the club against

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

during preseason on 17 July, playing the first 45 minutes, with United winning 1–0. He made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut on 8 August 2015 as the season opened with a 1–0 victory against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

, with manager

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...

selecting his performance as the best of the match. On 10 September, Darmian earned his first official accolade at the club, after he was voted Manchester United's August 2015 player of the month. "It's important to know this is from the fans," Matteo told United's official website. "I want to thank them. I am happy. I also want to thank my team-mates and everyone at the club for making me feel welcome." In April 2016, Darmian scored his only Premier League goal for Manchester United, a powerful volley from the edge of the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. Wit ...

, in the 55th minute of a 2–0 victory against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. He was presented with the club's

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award for his performance in this fixture and hailed his strike as the best goal of his career to date. His cross, in the fourth minute of play, had also previously forced an own goal from Damien Delaney. Darmian featured in the 2016 FA Cup Final against Crystal Palace on 21 May, coming on in the 66th minute for

Marcos Rojo Faustino Marcos Alberto Rojo (born 20 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defender for Boca Juniors and the Argentina national team. Rojo began his career at local club Estudiantes de La Plata, where he won the C ...

, helping United achieve a 2–1 victory. Manchester United v Hull City, January 2017 (14)

2016–17 season

Darmian's first appearance of the 2016–17 season came on 15 September 2016, in a 1–0 defeat against Dutch-side

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

in the UEFA Europa League group stage. He didn't feature again until 20 October, when he played the full 90 minutes against Turkish-side Fenerbahçe in a 4–1 win. Darmian appeared in all of United's Premier League games in November, playing at left-back against Swansea City,

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He continued to contribute to United's unbeaten streak by featuring against Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in December. On 10 January 2017, he played in the 2–0 victory against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

in the EFL Cup semi-final first-leg, assisting the second goal with a cross to

Marouane Fellaini Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui (born 22 November 1987) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Shandong Taishan. Born in Etterbeek to Moroccan parents, Fellaini played youth football for Anderlecht, R.A.E.C. ...

. He also played in the second leg on 27 January, helping United advance 3–2 on aggregate. Darmian's appearances in the league became limited after a 1–1 draw against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

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 popul ...

on 15 January, with him not featuring again until 19 March when he came on as a stoppage time substitute in a 3–1 win against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. On 9 April, he started for United, his first in the league since January, in a 3–0 victory over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

. In May 2017, Darmian played in both of the UEFA Europa League semi-final games against Spanish-side

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues) ...

, helping United go through to the final 2–1 on aggregate. On 24 May, Darmian started at left-back in the UEFA Europa League Final against Dutch-side

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, playing the full 90 minutes as United won 2–0.

2017–18 season

Darmian made his first appearance of the 2017–18 season on 8 August 2017 against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

, which United lost 1–2. His first Premier League appearance of the season was on 9 September, in a 2–2 draw against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. He didn't feature again in the league until 14 October in a 0–0 draw against Liverpool at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. While not featuring in the league, Darmian did play in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

in a 2–0 win over Benfica on 31 October and in a 1–0 defeat against

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

on 22 November. On 20 December, he played in United's 2–1 defeat to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in the EFL Cup fifth round. Darmian made his first league start since October on 18 April 2018, playing against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in a 2–0 victory. Three days later, he came off the bench in the 80th minute to see out United's 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the

FA Cup semi-final The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world. Location The semi-finals have always been contested at neutr ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. Darmian started in United's last league game of the season on 13 May, overseeing a 1–0 win over

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

at Old Trafford. He was left on the bench for Manchester United's 1–0 defeat to Chelsea in the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

on 19 May. After falling out of favour with

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

, Darmian only managed eight league appearances the whole season, five of which were starts.

2018–19 season

Despite speculation that Darmian would depart Manchester United in the summer for more playing time, he ended up staying for the 2018–19 season. He started United's first game of the season on 11 August at right-back in a 2–1 victory over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. Darmian's chances were limited until 24 November, when he started against Crystal Palace in a 0–0 draw. On 5 December, he started at left-back in a 2–2 draw against Arsenal. He played at right-back in United's 3–1 defeat to Liverpool on 16 December. On 5 January 2019, Darmian played at centre-back in Manchester United's 2–0 FA Cup third round win over

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. Caretaker manager

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 ...

praised Darmian's performance by saying, "He was one of the few who settled us down and tried to pass it and I don’t think he put a foot wrong.”

Parma

On 2 September 2019, Darmian returned to Italy signing for

on a four-year deal.

Inter Milan

On 5 October 2020, Darmian joined

on a season-long loan; Inter had an obligation to make the transfer permanent for £1.8 million at the end of the loan period.

International career

20150616 - Portugal - Italie - Genève - Matteo Darmian 2

After playing for Italy at under-17 and under-18 levels, he made his debut for the under-19 squad, led by

Francesco Rocca Francesco Rocca (; born 2 August 1954) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who played as a defender. He spent his entire career with Italian club Roma, where he won the Coppa Italia twice. He was the coach of the Italy n ...

, in June 2007. At the 2008 UEFA European U-19 Championship he played in the starting line-up, always in the role of a right-back. In 2009, he took part in the

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fir ...

, playing seven games for the under-20 side. On 25 March 2009, he made his debut for the Italy under-21 side in a 2–2 friendly match draw against

, which was played in Vienna. From 10 to 12 March 2014, he was called up to the senior national team by coach Cesare Prandelli as part of an internship to evaluate young players ahead of the

, and was also part of the next meeting between 14 and 15 April 2014. Given his excellent season with Torino, on 13 May 2014, he was included in the list of 30 provisional players for 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 made his debut for the ''Azzurri'' on 31 May 2014, at the age of 24, playing as a right-back in a goalless friendly match with

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

which was held in London. The following day, he was included in the list of 23 players selected for the 2014 World Cup. On 14 June 2014, he made his debut at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, starting Italy's opening game 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 ...

, which Italy won 2–1. He also played the next two games against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, both of which were 1–0 defeats for Italy who failed to qualify for the next round. In early 2015, he was awarded with the ''Pallone Azzurro'' as the best player of the national team for 2014. On 10 October of that year, he scored his first international goal, which was the final one of a 3–1 away win over

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

which sealed Italy's qualification to

. On 31 May 2016, he was named in

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 ...

's 23-man Italy squad for Euro 2016. In the round of 16 of the tournament, at

Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foot ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 27 June 2016, he came off the bench and set-up

Graziano Pellè Graziano Pellè (; born 15 July 1985) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Pellè began his career at local Serie A club Lecce, and was loaned to three lower-division sides before moving to the Dutch club AZ in 2007. ...

's 91st minute volley to give the ''Azzurri'' a 2–0 win over defending champions

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 ...

. On 2 July 2016, he missed Italy's final penalty in a 6–5 shoot-out defeat to reigning World Cup champions

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Style of play

Although he started his career as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, and has occasionally continued to be used in this role, and even played as a central or defensive midfielder for the Milan youth team, in recent years Darmian has predominantly played as a defensive-minded full-back or wing-back, or even as a winger on occasion; due to his ability with either foot, he is capable of playing on either flank, although he prefers to be deployed on the right side of the pitch. An intelligent, dynamic, hard-working, and versatile player, he is known for his good quality of offensive and defensive play, as well as his tactical awareness, pace, and stamina, attributes which allow him to cover the wing effectively and provide width to his team when attacking. His professionalism, as well as his promising and consistent performances in his youth, led him to be compared to several esteemed Italian former full-backs, such as

Antonio Cabrini Antonio Cabrini (; born 8 October 1957) is an Italian professional football manager and a former player. He played left-back, mainly with Juventus. He won the 1982 FIFA World Cup with the Italy national team. Cabrini was nicknamed ''Bell'Ant ...

and

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

. During the 2012–13 season, Darmian made the most tackles per game (5.3) across Europe's top five leagues.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 13 November 2017. Italy score listed first, score column indicates score after each Darmian goal.''

Honours

Manchester United *

: 2015–16 *

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

: 2016–17 *

runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Inter Milan *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

: 2021–22 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Italy U20 *

runner-up:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Individual *

: 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Pallone Azzurro The Pallone Azzurro ("Azure Football") is an individual award assigned by the FIGC to the best Italian player according to the votes of the fans registered to ''Vivo Azzurro'', the official fan club of the Italy national football team. The fans v ...

: 2014 Records *

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the most goals scored from a corner in 1 minute: 6 goals (shared with

Antonio Valencia Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (; born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developin ...

)

References

External links

Profile
at Manchester United's official club website

at Assocalciatori.it
Profile
at EmozioneCalcio.it
International Caps
at FIGC.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darmian, Matteo 1989 births Living people People of Venetian descent People from Legnano Footballers from Lombardy Italian footballers Association football defenders A.C. Milan players Calcio Padova players Palermo F.C. players Torino F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Parma Calcio 1913 players Inter Milan players Serie A players Serie B players Premier League players UEFA Europa League winning players Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Italy international footballers Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2016 players Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in football Italian expatriate footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England FA Cup Final players Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Milan