Michele Paolucci (born 6 February 1986) is 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 ...

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Canadian club

FC Manitoba FC Manitoba is a Canadian soccer team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. The club was founded in 2010 as WSA Winnipeg. In 2020, the club was acquired by a ...

Club career

Juventus and loans

Paolucci came through the ranks at

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 ...

. After graduating from their ''Primavera'' youth team. However, despite being called up to the first team he never made an official Serie A appearance for the ''Old Lady''. He played with Sebastian Giovinco and Claudio Marchisio. In 2006–07 season he was loaned to

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

, made his team and Serie A debut on 10 September 2006, against

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 ...

. After his successful spell at Ascoli where he would go on to score 6 goals in 32 Serie A appearances, he returned shortly to Juventus.

Udinese and loans

In mid-2007, he moved to

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 ...

on a co-ownership deal, as part of the

's deal to sign

Vincenzo Iaquinta Vincenzo Iaquinta (; born 21 November 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Prior to joining Juventus in 2007, he initially played for several smaller Italian clubs, and subsequently moved to Udinese in ...

. The price tag of Paolucci's 50% registration rights, was €1.355 million at that time. He made his official game debut in the

Italian Cup 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 ...

, scored two goals 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 ...

on 29 August 2007. He made just 2 appearances in 5 months at Udinese. In January 2008 Juventus and Udinese loaned him out to

, where he would play until 30 June 2008. In June 2008,

and Udinese again loaned Paolucci out, this time to Sicilian club,

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

. He scored 7 goals that season, in the Serie A and had been regularly included in first team action, under coach

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian manager (association football), football manager and former player who last managed Serie A club Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari. He was a long-time Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for In ...

. He made a total of 28 starts for the club.

Siena and loans

In June 2009, Paolucci returned to

, but was immediately bought back fully by Juventus for €3.3 million. On 8 July 2009 he joined

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 ...

on a co-ownership for the same price. He signed a 5-year contract. Paolucci did not manage to hold down a regular starting place at Siena, making just 10

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 ...

appearances, and scoring just twice. After not obtaining a regular starting place and also due to Juventus' striker injury crisis, he was loan back by

on 16 January 2010, by Juve paying Siena €500,000. Originally acquired as addition to an injury-ridden team, Paolucci never broke into the first team and ended his second Juve stint with only four league appearances before to return to Siena, now relegated to Serie B. After a disappointing period at Siena, with only one second-division appearance with the Tuscans, Paolucci accepted a loan move to

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 31 January 2011, replacing the left of former Siena teammate

Massimo Maccarone Massimo Maccarone (; born 6 September 1979) is an Italian football coach and former player, who played as a striker. He was nicknamed ''Big Mac'' during his playing days. He is currently in charge as head coach of Serie D amateurs Ghiviborgo. ...

. He made his debut with the Sicilians only two days later, replacing

Fabrizio Miccoli Fabrizio Miccoli (; born on 27 June 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 103 goals in 259 matches in Serie A across nine seasons, representing Perugia, Juventus, Fiorentina and Palermo, also spen ...

in the final minutes of a home game against his former team Juventus, ended in a 2–1 win for Palermo. Siena elected to loan him out once again to

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 ...

for the 2011–12 season after the club acquired the residual 50% rights from Juve for free.

Latina

On 28 January 2014, Paolucci left Siena for

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 ...

side

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

, signed a four-and-a-half-year contract. In 2015, he was released by Latina.

Petrolul

On 9 December 2015, Paolucci signed a six-month contract with Romanian side Petrolul, with an option to extend it by a further year.

Catania and Ancona

In July 2016 he returned to Italy and moved to

; in January 2017 it was sold to

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

Monopoli and Floriana

Paolucci joined Italian side

Monopoli Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,24 ...

in mid-2017, and then Maltese side

Floriana Floriana ( mt, Il-Furjana or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana ...

on 18 January 2018.

Valour FC

On 16 July 2019, Paolucci signed with

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

side

Valour FC Valour Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home matches at IG Field. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned thro ...

FC Manitoba

On 10 September 2020, Paolucci signed with

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

side

as a player and assistant manager.

International career

Paolucci made his U-21 team debut against Luxembourg U-21, 12 December 2006, replacing Nicola Pozzi at half time.

Career statistics

References

External links

FIGC

Profile at gazzetta.it
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paolucci, Michele Living people 1986 births Association football forwards Italian footballers People from Recanati Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Romania Italian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate footballers in Malta Italian expatriate sportspeople in Malta Expatriate soccer players in Canada Italian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Juventus F.C. players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Udinese Calcio players Atalanta B.C. players Catania S.S.D. players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Palermo F.C. players L.R. Vicenza players Latina Calcio 1932 players FC Petrolul Ploiești players U.S. Ancona 1905 players S.S. Monopoli 1966 players Floriana F.C. players Tarxien Rainbows F.C. players Valour FC players FC Manitoba players Serie A players Serie B players Liga I players Serie C players USL League Two players Maltese Premier League players Canadian Premier League players Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Sportspeople from the Province of Macerata Footballers from Marche