Rolando Bianchi (; born 15 February 1983) is an Italian former 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 played as a striker. With 77 total goals, he is

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 ...

's 11th-highest all-time goal scorer. Bianchi was primarily known for his ability in the air.

Club career

Atalanta

A product of the Atalanta youth system, Bianchi made his Serie A debut at the age of 18 during the 2000–01 Serie A season. He played the final 10 minutes in a 2–1 loss to Juventus on 17 June 2001. His only appearance during the season. The following

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 ...

he made an additional 3 appearances for the ''bergamaschi'', while during the 2002–03 Serie A season he made 16 appearances. Despite being a prolific scorer in the youth ranks, he played 21 games for the first team without scoring any goals.

Cagliari

He was sold in co-ownership to

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 ...

team

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

in January 2004, where he played 14 matches and scored two goals helping them gain promotion 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 ...

. The 2004–05 season, for which he remained at Cagliari, saw him score 2 goals in 25 matches.

Reggina

Bianchi was promptly sold to Reggina in 2005, where his first season was hampered by a serious knee injury suffered early on in the season. He recovered to play 9 games late in the season, scoring one goal. The 2006–07 season saw Bianchi score 18 goals in 37 games. Due to their indictment for sporting fraud, the club had started the season with an 11-point deduction and seemed destined for relegation. They managed to save themselves, however, with Bianchi's performances considered a key part of Reggina's Serie A survival. He finished the season 4th in the league's goal scoring table.

Manchester City

His form for Reggina attracted the attention of clubs throughout Europe, and in July 2007 Bianchi moved to Manchester City for a reported fee of £8.8 million (€13 million), where he was given the number 10 shirt. Bianchi scored on his debut for

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

against

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

, slotting home from close range following a run and pass from

Elano Elano Blumer (born 14 June 1981), known as Elano, is a Brazilian football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. Known for his accurate passing and precise set pieces, Elano started his senior career at Santos, and sp ...

. Bianchi's second goal came in a 2–1 victory in the

Football League 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 ...

2nd round against

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 ...

. Bianchi then scored his third goal in English football in a 2–1 defeat against

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

on 9 December 2007. Then on the following Saturday he scored the first goal against Bolton in a 4–2 victory. Later that month, Bianchi criticised English cuisine and alcohol culture, and stated how he could never become a full international unless he returned to Serie A.

Loan to Lazio

In January 2008, Manchester City manager

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; born 5 February 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player. After an unassuming playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management between 1977 and 2001, winning 18 ...

informed Bianchi that he would be allowed to leave the club. On 23 January 2008 Bianchi finalised a loan move to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

after not being able to settle in England. In his debut with Lazio on 27 January, Bianchi was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in just under five minutes, as the capital club drew 0–0 with Torino. He scored his first goal for Lazio against former club Reggina from a penalty kick in a 1–0 victory. In spite of Bianchi's hope that Lazio would make his move permanent, he had in fact been asked to return to Manchester City.

Torino

On 23 August 2008, after a summer of much speculation about a possible move, it was officially announced by Manchester City that Bianchi had signed for Italian club

on a five-year deal, for a fee of €5 million. On 18 August 2012, Bianchi scored two goals in Torino's 4–2 defeat of

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. ...

in the Third Round of 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 ...

, Torino's first competitive game of the new season. He scored two goals in the 5–1 defeat of

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 ...

on 30 September, reaching 70 goals with Torino. With these strikes, he entered into the Top 10 scorers for the club, tied with club legend,

Ezio Loik Ezio Loik (; 26 September 1919 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian footballer who played as midfielder. Born in Fiume, Loik began his career with Fiumana. He made his Serie A debut with Milan in 1937, and after three seasons, moved to Venezia. In Ven ...

. Bianchi helped the club to a 3–2 victory over

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 13 January 2013, heading in a cross from

Valter Birsa Valter Birsa (born 7 August 1986) is a retired Slovenian footballer who played as a winger. Club career Born in Šempeter pri Gorici, he spent his childhood in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. Birsa's career began at the age of five, when he started play ...

in the later stages of the first-half.

Bologna and Atalanta

On 9 July 2013, Bianchi was signed by

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 ...

. Bologna relegated at the end of season. Bianchi wore no.9 shirt that season. On 5 August 2014, Bianchi returned to Atalanta in a temporary deal, with

Rubén Bentancourt Rubén Daniel Bentancourt Morales (born 2 March 1993) is a Uruguayan professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), striker for Club Nacional de Football, Nacional. Career Bentancourt made his pro ...

moved to opposite direction. On the same day Bologna signed

Daniele Cacia Daniele Cacia (born 23 August 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He is a former Italy Under 19 international. Club career Piacenza Born in Catanzaro, and coming through the youth ranks at Piacenza. He made his ...

. On 8 August 2015, he was released by Bologna.

Mallorca and Perugia

On 27 August 2015, Bianchi joined

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

. After contributing with only two goals in 16 matches, he rescinded his contract and moved to

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 ...

. Bianchi signed a -year contract with

on 20 January 2016.

Pro Vercelli

On 19 February 2017, Bianchi signed with

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Italy, with seven natio ...

International career

In the summer of 2006, Bianchi was called up to the Italy U-21 squad for the 2006 U-21 Championships in Portugal, where he appeared 3 times and scored 1 goal.

References

External links

* * *
Lega Serie A profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi, Rolando 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Bergamo Italian footballers Men's association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Cagliari Calcio players Atalanta B.C. players Reggina 1914 players S.S. Lazio players Torino F.C. players Bologna F.C. 1909 players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Premier League players Manchester City F.C. players Segunda División players RCD Mallorca players Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italian expatriate footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Footballers from Lombardy