Rômulo Souza Orestes Caldeira (born 22 May 1987), commonly known as Rômulo, is an Italian-Brazilian

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

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 ...

right 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Pelotas Pelotas () is a Brazilian city and municipality (''município''), the third most populous in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. It is located 270 km (168 mi) from Porto Alegre, the state's capital city, and 130 km (80.8&n ...

, Brazil, Rômulo began his professional footballing career within the youth ranks of Caxias in 2002. Having remained within the club's youth academy until 2006, Rômulo then transferred to Juventude, where he made his professional debut. Over the course of one year with the club, he appeared in 20 league matches and scored one goal. The following year, Rômulo was sold to fellow

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian side

Metropolitano Metropolitano S.A. was a privately owned consortium formed in 1994 to take over concessions granted by the Argentine government as part of railway privatisation during the presidency of Carlos Menem for the operation of commuter rail services i ...

, spending the 2007 and 2008 season with the club before signing with Chapecoense in 2008. After yet another one–year spell, Rômulo signed with

Santo André Santo ('saint' in various languages) may refer to: People * Santo (given name) * Santo (surname) * El Santo, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917–1984), Mexican wrestler and actor * Bob Santo or Santo, stage name of Ghanaian comedian John Evans Kwadwo ...

in 2009, before adding to and continuing his status as a ''journeyman'' by signing with Cruzeiro in July 2010.

Cruzeiro

On 10 July 2010, Rômulo was officially presented as a reinforcement of Cruzeiro. He made his debut for the Brazilian giants on July 22, in a match against

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

. He went on to make 16 appearances for the club that season, scoring one goal. After less than one full calendar year, however, he was sent on loan to Atlético Paranaense. On 13 April 2011, Rômulo officially joined

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

on loan from Cruzeiro, making just 6 appearances. He returned to Cruzeiro upon the conclusion of the loan agreement, and was soon thereafter sold to

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 ...

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 Cop ...

side

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 fol ...

Fiorentina

On 29 June 2011, Rômulo officially joined

following the agreement of a permanent transfer from Cruzeiro. He made his debut for ''La Viola'' on 21 September 2011, in a 3–0 home victory over

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

. During his first season with the club, Rômulo appeared in just 10 league matches, and started in only 4 of them. During his second season in

, he managed to appear in 20 league fixtures (10 starts), and scored two goals. Despite the improved amount of playing time in his second season, Rômulo was sent out on loan to newly promoted Serie A club

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

in August 2013, with an option for his new club to acquire 50% of his transfer rights at the end of the

2013–14 Serie A The 2013–14 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 112th season of top-tier Italian football, the 82nd in a round-robin tournament, and the 4th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...

season.

Hellas Verona

Rômulo officially transferred to the northern-Italian side on 13 August 2013, and made his official debut on 24 August in an unexpected 2–1 victory over

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 ...

at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi in what was Verona's first Serie A match since 2002. He went on to become an integral part of the club's starting line-up under coach Andrea Mandorlini as the ''Scaglieri'' finished 10th in the league table, nearly qualifying for the

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. ...

. He appeared in 32 league matches and scored 6 goals. Verona exercised their option to sign 50% of the player's contractual rights upon the conclusion of the season. On 14 July 2014,

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

acquired full ownership of Rômulo.

Juventus

On 2 August 2014, Rômulo officially signed for Juventus, on a year-long loan from

for €1m with an option for an outright buy for €6m. The deal means a buy-out clause becomes mandatory if Romulo plays “at least 60 per cent of Juventus' official games in the 2014–15 season”. The official statement notes the overall fixed value of the deal to be €6m – to be paid over three years – with a possible €1m in certain performance-based add-ons. He made his debut in the 2–0

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 competi ...

group stage win over

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...

on 16 September, replacing Stephan Lichtsteiner in added time. Four days later he made his first Serie A appearance for the club, replacing the same player for the final seven minutes of a 1–0 win at

. Rômulo was sidelined for the rest of the first part of the season, however, due to continual problems with his adductor muscles, as well as athletic pubalgia; he was operated in December, which kept him out for three months. He returned to the pitch on 9 May 2015, in a 1–1 home draw against Cagliari; however, during Juventus's 2–1 away win over

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

on 16 May, he suffered a myotendinous tear of the rectus femoris muscle in his left thigh, which kept him out for the rest of the season, as Juventus won a domestic

and

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 ...

double, also reaching the

2015 UEFA Champions League Final The 2015 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from the European Champi ...

. At the end of the season, Juventus chose not to renew his loan contract, resulting in his return to Verona.

Genoa

On 11 July 2018, Rômulo signed a contract with

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

Lazio (loan)

On 31 January 2019, Rômulo joined

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

on loan with an option to buy.

Brescia (loan)

On 2 September 2019, on the last day of the summer transfer window, Rômulo joined newly promoted club Brescia on a single-season loan. He made his club debut on 15 September, setting up a goal for Alfredo Donnarumma in a 4–3 home loss to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, 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 1 ...

. On 21 September, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 away win over

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 ...

International career

An Italian citizen through ancestry, Rômulo was first called up by

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

coach Cesare Prandelli in April 2014 for a stage, due to his impressive performances with Verona. On 13 May 2014, Rômulo's name was included in a provisional 30-man squad for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup, but on 1 June 2014, he was omitted from the final 23-man squad for the tournament on 1 June; Rômulo later stated on 2 June that although he had originally been included in Prandelli's final 23-man squad, he turned down the call-up, as he felt he felt he was not quite 100% in terms of his physical condition, and therefore preferred to offer his spot in the team to other players who were in better shape than him.

Style of play

A quick and hard-working

box-to-box 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 ...

player, with notable stamina as well as good vision and technique, Rômulo is a tactically versatile footballer, who is capable of aiding his team both offensively and defensively. He is capable of playing anywhere in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

, both in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

, or on either

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, or even as an

attacking 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 full-back or wing-back on the right flank.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Juventus *

: 2014–15 *

: 2014–15 ;Lazio *

: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romulo 1987 births Living people Italian men's footballers Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football defenders Sportspeople from Pelotas Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul Sociedade Esportiva e Recreativa Caxias do Sul players Esporte Clube Juventude players Associação Chapecoense de Futebol players Esporte Clube Santo André players Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players Club Athletico Paranaense players ACF Fiorentina players Hellas Verona FC players Juventus FC players Genoa CFC players SS Lazio players Brescia Calcio players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série C players Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Serie A players Serie B players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian people of Venetian descent