Tommaso Baldanzi (born 23 March 2003) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club

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 ...

Club career

Born in

Poggibonsi Poggibonsi is a town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located on the river Elsa and is the main centre of the Valdelsa Valley. History The area around Poggibonsi was already settled in the Neolithic age, although the ...

and raised in

Castelfiorentino Castelfiorentino is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, central-northern Italy, halfway between Florence (distance 30 km), Pisa (45 km) and Siena (55 km). The population is approximate ...

, Baldanzi first started playing football at the local grassroots club, aged six; two years later, he joined the youth sector of

, where he came through the youth ranks and won an under-16 national championship in 2019. On 28 October 2020, the midfielder made his professional debut for Empoli, coming on as a substitute in a Coppa Italia 4–2 win against

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 ...

: in the occasion, he assisted Leonardo Mancuso's closing goal. In the same season, he helped Empoli's Under-19 team win the Campionato Primavera, being also nominated as the league's MVP in the process. In the following season, after featuring in the UEFA Youth League, Baldanzi was officially promoted to the first team, together with team-mates Jacopo Fazzini and

Duccio Degli Innocenti Duccio Degli Innocenti (born 28 April 2003) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Lecco on loan from Empoli. Club career Degli Innocenti was raised in the youth system of Empoli. He represented th ...

. He then made his Serie A debut on 22 May 2022, replacing

Patrick Cutrone Patrick Cutrone (; born 3 January 1998) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Como. Club career AC Milan Cutrone was born in Como and began to play football at a young age. In 2005, the 7-year old Cutrone start ...

at the 74th minute of the 0–1 away win against Atalanta. On 28 August of the same year, he started his first league match against

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 ...

, which ended in a 1–1 draw. Three days after, on 31 August, he scored his first professional goal in the 1-1 league draw against Hellas Verona. On 23 January 2023, Baldanzi scored the only goal of a 0-1 league victory against Inter Milan.

International career

Baldanzi has represented Italy at various youth international levels. In June 2022, he was included in the squad that took part in the

2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2022) was the 19th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (69th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footba ...

in Slovakia, where the ''Azzurrini'' reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual winners England. Both in May and December 2022, Baldanzi was involved in training camps led by the Italian senior national team's manager, Roberto Mancini, and aimed to the most promising national talents. On 24 March 2023 he made his debut for the Italy U21 squad in a friendly match won 2–0 against Serbia. In May 2023, he was included in the Italian squad that took part in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina, where the ''Azzurrini'' finished runners-up after losing to Uruguay in the final match.

Style of play

Baldanzi is an attacking midfielder, who mainly operates as a '' number 10'', but can also play as a left winger in an attacking trio. Due to his low center of gravity, he has shown notable quickness, ball control, technique and creativity. Primarily a left-footer, he can also use his weaker right foot as well, and represents a frequent attacking threat, thanks to his vision, his dribbling skills and his shooting (both from short and long range). Rated as one of the best Italian prospects of his generation, he has been compared to

Sebastian Giovinco Sebastian Giovinco (; born 26 January 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A quick and creative player on the ball, Giovinco was a versatile forward capable of playing in multiple offensive positions. Gio ...

and Alejandro Gómez, although he cited Paulo Dybala as his biggest source of inspiration.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Empoli U16 * Campionato Nazionale Under-16 A e B: 2018–19 Empoli U19 * Campionato Primavera 1: 2020–21 Italy U20 * FIFA U-20 World Cup runner-up:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual * Campionato Primavera 1 Most Valuable Player: 2020–21

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldanzi, Tommaso 2003 births Living people People from Poggibonsi Sportspeople from the Province of Siena Italian men's footballers Footballers from Tuscany Men's association football midfielders Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Empoli FC players