Alessandro Florenzi (born 11 March 1991) 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, rugb ...

who plays as a full-back for club

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

and the Italy national team. Florenzi started his professional club career with Roma in 2011, but spent the 2011–12 season on loan with

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages unti ...

. Florenzi was appointed as Roma's new

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

following the departure of

Daniele De Rossi Daniele De Rossi (; born 24 July 1983) is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and is currently manager of side SPAL. He is mostly known for his time playing with his hometown club Roma in Serie A, as ...

in 2019. He later had spells on loan with Spanish side

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

, and French side

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

, winning the

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

and the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

with the latter club during the 2020–21 season. At international level he was a member of the

Italy national under-21 football team The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. Italy (along w ...

that finished second in the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 ...

, and also represented the Italy senior side at

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

and

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

, winning the latter tournament.

Club career

Roma

A product of

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

, Florenzi made his

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 ...

debut in a 3–1 win against Sampdoria on 22 May 2011, replacing

Francesco Totti Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional footballer who played solely for Roma and the Italy national team. He is often referred to as ''Er Bimbo de Oro'' (The Golden Boy), ''L'Ottavo Re di Roma'' (The Eig ...

as a substitute.

Loan to Crotone

During the summer of 2011, Florenzi was sent on loan to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

club

. He made his debut on 27 August 2011, scoring their goal in a 2–1 home defeat against

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. On 22 June 2012, Crotone exercised the option in the loan contract to buy half of the registration rights for €250,000. On 6 July, Roma bought back half of the registration rights for €1.25 million.

Return to Roma

Florenzi made his first appearance of the

2012–13 Serie A The 2012–13 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th season of top-tier Italian football, the 81st in a round-robin tournament, and the 3rd since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...

season as a second-half substitute in the 2–2 draw against

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 b ...

on 26 August 2012. He made his first start in the 3–1 victory against

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

the following week, also scoring his first-ever goal for Roma. Florenzi ended his first full season with the Roma first team, making 36 Serie A appearances and scoring three goals. On 31 July 2013, Florenzi scored and assisted a goal in a 3–1 over the MLS All-stars in the

2013 MLS All-Star Game The 2013 Major League Soccer All-Star Game, held on July 31, 2013, was the 18th annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game, a soccer match involving all-stars from Major League Soccer. The game was played at Sporting Park, now known as Children's ...

, and was named the MLS All-Star Game MVP. During 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, Florenzi helped guide Roma to a second-place finish and a return to Champions League football for the first time since the 2010–11 season. Florenzi also featured in all ten of Roma's victories from the start of the season, a Serie A record, scoring against Livorno,

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 m ...

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 na ...

and Inter during the run. On 12 January 2014, Florenzi scored a fantastic, bicycle kick goal to open the scoring in Roma's 4–0 victory against

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 ...

. Florenzi played in 36 of Roma's 38 Serie A fixtures during the season. Florenzi made his first appearance of the

2014–15 Serie A The 2014–15 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of top-tier Italian football, the 83rd in a round-robin tournament, and the fifth since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie ...

season on 30 August 2014 as a second-half substitute in the 2–0 victory against

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 ...

. He then started the 0–1 away victory against

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 ...

on 13 September. Florenzi made his Champions League debut as a substitute for the injured

Juan Iturbe Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalo (born 4 June 1993) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Greek Super League club Aris and the Paraguay national team. Iturbe represented the Paraguay national team in a friendly match ...

in the 5–1 group stage victory against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...

on 17 September. Florenzi scored his first goal of the season as Roma won 2–0 against

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 ...

, having set up

Mattia Destro Mattia Destro (; born 20 March 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Empoli. He has also featured at international level, holding eight caps for Italy. Club career Youth career Destro began his ...

for the opener. On 16 September 2015, Florenzi scored the tying goal from 50 yards out against reigning champions,

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

when he spotted the goalkeeper at the edge of his box during the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

of the Champions League, resulting in a 1–1 draw. The goal was later named one of the three final nominees for the 2015 FIFA Puskás Award. On 26 October 2016, Florenzi suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

in his left knee during Roma's 3–1 away win against Sassuolo, causing him to be out for at least four months. On 17 February 2017, Florenzi was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a further tear of the same ligament in his first week back in training. On 16 September 2017, he made his return in Roma's 3–0 home victory over Hellas Verona.

Loan to Valencia

On 30 January 2020, Florenzi was loaned to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

until 30 June 2020.

Loan to Paris Saint-Germain

On 11 September 2020, Florenzi joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

club

on a season-long loan with an option to buy. He was given the number 24 shirt. Two days later, he made his debut for PSG in a 0–1 loss against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

. On 2 October 2020, Florenzi scored his first goal at the Parisian club, in a match against

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

that ended in a 6–1 victory. On 19 May 2021, Florenzi started for PSG in their 2–0 win over

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

in the 2021 Coupe de France Final. His loan ended on 30 June 2021.

Loan to AC Milan: Scudetto Triumph

On 21 August 2021, AC Milan announced the signing of Florenzi from

on an initial loan deal, with the option to make the transfer permanent. Florenzi signed for the team until 30 June 2022. On First of October, Florenzi underwent surgery to his partially torn medial meniscus in his left knee. He was back on the pitch almost after 2 months against Fiorentina. He scored his first goal for Milan on 22 December against

in eventual 4–2 win, it was also his first goal from a free-kick in Serie A. On 6 April 2022, he underwent a surgery on his left knee to repair the internal meniscus. On 8 May against Verona, he played his first match since the injury, coming on as a substitute and scoring the third in 3–1 win for Milan. In total, Florenzi played 30 matches for Milan this season, scoring 2 goals, contributing to the club's 19th

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' ( Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous sea ...

; it was Florenzi's first Serie A title.

AC Milan

On 1 July 2022, AC Milan announced the signing of Florenzi from

on a permanent basis. The defender has signed a contract with the club lasting until 30 June 2025.

International career

On 14 November 2012, Florenzi made his debut for the senior team under coach

Cesare Prandelli Claudio Cesare Prandelli (; born 19 August 1957) is an Italian football coach and former player. He was most recently head coach of Fiorentina. Career Player Prandelli was a midfielder who moved from Atalanta to Juventus in 1979. His first game ...

in a friendly match against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Florenzi was part of the Italy under-21 squad for the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, as the ''Azzurrini'' reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, losing to

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

4–2. Florenzi's only goal of the tournament came in the 4–0, group stage, victory over the host nation. On 15 October 2013, Florenzi scored his first senior goal on his competitive debut in a World Cup qualifying match against

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

that ended in a 2–2 draw at the

Stadio San Paolo Stadio Diego Armando Maradona (formerly known as Stadio San Paolo) is a stadium in the western Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples, Italy. It is the third largest football stadium in Italy, after Milan's San Siro and Rome's Stadio Olimpico, as well as ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

. Florenzi was not included in the 30-man preliminary squad named by

for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

. On 30 August 2014, new Italy head coach

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later ...

named Florenzi in his first squad for the upcoming European qualifying matches. On 31 May 2016, he was named to Conte's 23-man Italy squad for

. In June 2021, he was included in Italy's squad for

by manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sam ...

. On 11 July, Florenzi won the European Championship with Italy following a 3–2

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the

, after a 1–1 draw in

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

; he made a substitute appearance during the final, replacing

Emerson Palmieri Emerson Palmieri dos Santos (born 3 August 1994), known as Emerson Palmieri or simply Emerson, is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left-back for club West Ham United F.C., West Ham United and the Italy national fo ...

late in the second half of extra-time.

Style of play

Florenzi is a tenacious, tactically intelligent and well-rounded player who is extremely versatile. Although initially he was usually deployed as a

central 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 ...

, in the "

mezzala 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 ...

" role, he is a box-to-box player capable of playing anywhere in midfield, and he has recently also been deployed as a winger, and even as an attacking full-back or wing-back on either flank throughout his career, although he favours the right side. Florenzi is a quick, energetic and hard-working player who is effective at aiding his team both offensively and defensively due to his pace and stamina; when used in more offensive midfield roles, he has also demonstrated an aptitude for making offensive runs. He is gifted with good technical skills, distribution, and crossing ability, and despite his small stature, he is effective in the air; he is also a good striker of the ball, and an accurate set-piece taker. Florenzi has cited

Cesc Fàbregas Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through ''La Masia'', Barcelona's youth academy, leaving at 16 when ...

as his role model.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Florenzi goal.''

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

AC Milan *

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 ...

: 2021–22 Italy U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. ...

runner-up:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Italy *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

Individual *

Pallone d'Argento The Pallone d'Argento – Coppa Giaime Fiumanò ''(Silver Ball)'' was an annual award instituted by the Unione Stampa Sportiva Italiana (Italian Sports Press Association) or USSI. It was presented to Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie ...

: 2015–16

Orders

5th Class / Knight: '' Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'': 2021

References

External links

* *
Statistics
at

Italian Footballers' Association The Italian Footballers' Association (Italian: ''Associazione Italiana Calciatori''), also referred to by the acronym AIC, is the association for footballers in Italy. It was established in 1968 and currently has 4,500 members, of which 2,500 ar ...

*
Profile
at the

Italian FA The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Florenzi, Alessandro 1991 births Living people Footballers from Rome Italian footballers Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Italy international footballers Association football defenders A.S. Roma players F.C. Crotone players Valencia CF players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players A.C. Milan players Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players Ligue 1 players UEFA Euro 2016 players UEFA Euro 2020 players Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in France Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in France UEFA European Championship-winning players Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic