Riccardo Improta (born 19 December 1993) 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

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

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

. His elder brothers

Umberto Umberto is a masculine Italian given name. It is the Italian form of Humbert. People with the name include: * King Umberto I of Italy (1844–1900) * King Umberto II of Italy (1904–1983) * Prince Umberto, Count of Salemi (1889–1918) * Umberto I ...

and

Giancarlo Improta Giancarlo Improta (born 15 April 1987) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for Turris. His brothers Umberto and Riccardo Improta were also professional footballers. Career Cisco Roma and Carpenedolo Born in Naples, Campania, South ...

are also professional footballers.

Club career

Born in

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα� ...

, The

Province of Naples The Province of Naples ( it, Provincia di Napoli; nap, Pruvincia 'e Nàpule) was a province in the Campania region of southern Italy. In 2014/2015, the reform of local authorities (Law 142/1990 and Law 56/2014), replaced the Province of Naples ...

, Campania, Riccardo Improta started his career at hometown club Puteolana. He was the member of ''Giovanissimi'' U15 team in 2007–08 season. In 2008–09 season he was the member of ''Allievi Fascia B'' U16 team. In 2009–10 season Improta promoted to ''Allievi'' U17 team. All 3 teams competed in Campania regional youth league. In 2010 Improta left for the

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest 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. Before the 1978� ...

team

Lanciano Lanciano (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Langiàne ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It has 36,304 inhabitants as of 2011. The town is known for the first recorded Catholic Eucharistic ...

Lanciano

On 2 May 2011, Improta made his first team debut against Lucchese. Riccardo replaced Alessandro Volpe at half-time, while his brother,

Umberto Improta Umberto Improta (born 29 February 1984) is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward. His younger brothers Giancarlo and Riccardo Improta were also professional footballers. Club career Born in Naples, Campania, Southern Italy, Im ...

was replaced by

Mario Titone Mario Titone (born 14 October 1988) is an Italian footballer, who currently plays as a forward for U.S.D. Recanatese 1923. Club career Born in Erice, Sicily, Titone started his professional career with Tuscany club Sansovino. After played on ...

. He was promoted to the first team in the

2011–12 Lega Pro Prima Divisione The 2011–12 Lega Pro Prima Divisione season will be the thirty-fourth football league season of Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the fourth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It will be divided i ...

season, while Umberto left the club. Improta made a total of 10 appearances, seven of which were starts. On 18 January 2012, he left for

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 ...

club

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 ...

in a temporary deal.

Genoa

Improta played for the Genoa reserve team in the

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 ...

. He played 9 games and scored 1 goal in the second half of the 2011–12 season. He also played in the first round of the play-offs, losing 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 ...

. On 22 June 2012, Genoa excised the option to sign Improta outright, for €150,000. He left for

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

's pre-season camp. However, he was allowed to join

Juve Stabia Società Sportiva Juve Stabia is an Italian football club based in Castellammare di Stabia, Campania. Juve Stabia currently plays in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football system. History The football in Castellammare di Stabia From St ...

on 4 August 2012. On 2 July 2013, Improta left for

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

on loan, with an option to buy. In January 2014, Chievo bought him in a co-ownership deal for a peppercorn of €500. However, he left for

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 ...

immediately. In June 2014, Improta returned to Genoa for an undisclosed fee. On 1 September 2014, Improta left for

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 ...

. On 18 July 2015, Improta was signed by

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 ...

on a temporary basis. On 19 August 2016, Improta left for

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 ...

in another loan. Before he left Genoa, he was assigned the number 16 shirt. On 11 July 2017, Improta was signed by

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 1 July 2018, Improta signed 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 ...

club

International career

Improta was capped for

Italy national under-19 football team The Italy national under-19 football team is the national under-19 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, held every year. UEFA U-18 Cham ...

in the second half of the 2011–12 season. He scored twice in 3 games of 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship elite qualification. Along with

Francesco Zampano Francesco Filippo Zampano (born 30 September 1993) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for club Venezia. Club career Sampdoria Born in Genoa, Liguria along with his twin brother Giuseppe, they spent their youth ...

, they scored a goal against U19 team when they represented

Italy Lega Pro representative teams Italy national football C teams ( it, Squadre Rappresentative della Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico) are the Italy national football team representative teams of Serie C (in the past Lega Pro Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione). They are c ...

in December 2011. After the game they both entered U19 team.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Lanciano (youth) *

Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti Campionato Primavera 3, formerly Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti (or simply ''Campionato Berretti''), is an Italian football competition played by youth teams (under 19) organized by the Lega Pro, and mainly composed by Serie C clubs but also ...

Runner-up: 2011

Individual

;Genoa (youth) * Top-scorer of

2012 Torneo di Viareggio The 2012 winners of the Torneo di Viareggio (in English, the Viareggio Tournament, officially the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale), the annual youth football tournament held in Viareggio, Tuscany, are listed below. Format ...

References

External links

FIGC

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Improta, Riccardo 1993 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players SS Virtus Lanciano 1924 players Genoa CFC players SS Juve Stabia players AC ChievoVerona players Calcio Padova players Bologna FC 1909 players AC Cesena players SSC Bari players Benevento Calcio players Men's association football forwards People from Pozzuoli Footballers from Campania