Quick Facts
Biography
Alessio Romagnoli (Italian pronunciation: [aˈlɛssjo romaɲˈɲɔːli]; born 12 January 1995) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Serie A club Milan and the Italy national football team.
He began his career with Italian club Roma in 2012, and later spent a season on loan with Sampdoria in 2014, before moving to Milan in 2015.
Club career
Roma
A youth product of Roma, Romagnoli was surprisingly included despite his 17 years of age by new head coach Zdeněk Zeman in the first team squad, joining the pre-season camp and being regularly called up as a reserve for the league games. Romagnoli made his senior debut on 11 December 2012 against Atalanta, playing the full game as a starter. He then made his Serie A debut twelve days later, as a substitute in the final minutes of a league game against Milan. He scored his first goal in Serie A on 3 March 2013 against Genoa.
He found more first team opportunities in the second half of the 2013–14 season under new manager Rudi García both at full back and in the centre of defence. On 31 May 2014 Romagnoli, signed a new four-year contract with Roma.
Loan to Sampdoria
On 1 September 2014, Romagnoli joined Sampdoria on a season long loan for €500,000, with an option to purchase for €2 million, as well as a counter-option of €750,000. Romagnoli made his Sampdoria debut as a late substitute in a 2–0 victory against Torino on 14 September. He scored his first goal for Sampdoria on 24 September 2014 in a 2–1 defeat of Chievo. In June 2015 Roma activated the counter-option, which the deal had also cost Roma an additional €550,000 as agent fee, making the return of Romagnoli cost €1.3 million (or €800,000 in net deducting the loan revenue).
Milan
On 11 August 2015 he was sold to Milan for a fee of €25 million, signing a five-year contract. Roma also eligible to 30% of the value adding if the player was subsequent sold for a fee above €25 million.
Romagnoli made his official Milan debut on the 18th of August, 2015, in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia, playing the full 90 minutes and keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over A.C. Perugia Calcio. Six days later, the young central defender then made his first appearance in the league with his new club, as Milan lost 2–0 to ACF Fiorentina. Romagnoli was sent off for the first time in his Milan career on the 27th of September, 2015, after receiving two bookable offences in the first half of a 1–0 loss to Genoa C.F.C. at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Upon returning from his one match ban, Romagnoli re-established himself as the team's first choice centre-back, and went on to perform on a consistent basis, in addition to providing stability in Milan's back line which has been not been seen since the sales of the legendary Milan defenders Alessandro Nesta and Thiago Silva.
On 1 March 2016, he was praised for his strong performance in a 5–0 Coppa Italia defeat of Alessandria, scoring his first Milan goal as well as forcing an own goal from opposition defender Roberto Sabato. This match sent Milan to the final for the first time since 2003.
International career
Romagnoli has represented Italy on multiple occasions at Under-16, Under-17 & Under-19 level. He made his first appearance for the Italy Under-21 team against Northern Ireland on 5 March 2014, playing the full 90 minutes. With the Italy U-21 he took part at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He has since formed an effective partnership with fellow centre-back Daniele Rugani.
Romagnoli was tipped to be called up to the senior squad for UEFA Euro 2016 after a good debut season with Milan, but he eventually wasn't even called up for the preliminary squad.
On 27 August, Romagnoli was called up to the senior squad for the first time for a friendly against France on 1 September and a 2018 World Cup qualification match on 5 September against Israel. However, he was later moved to U21 squad for 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Serbia.
On 6 October, Romagnoli made his senior debut in a 2018 World Cup qualification match, playing all 90 minutes, in a 1–1 home draw against Spain.
Style of play
An elegant, versatile, composed and gifted left-footed centre-back, with good technique and confident ball-playing ability, Romagnoli is also capable of functioning as a left-sided full-back; his precocious displays, technique, positional sense, and tackling abilities have led pundits to compare him with legendary Italian defender Alessandro Nesta. He is also effective in the air and known for his ability to time his challenges. In 2015, he was named one of the top 100 young footballers in the world born after 1994 by Don Balón.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 16 January 2017.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Roma | 2012–13 | Serie A | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 1 | |||
| Sampdoria (loan) | 2014–15 | Serie A | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 2 | ||
| Total | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 2 | ||||
| Milan | 2015–16 | Serie A | 34 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 40 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |||
| Total | 51 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58 | 1 | ||
| Career Total | 94 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 103 | 4 | ||
International
- As of 15 November 2016
| Italy national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2016 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 0 |
Honours
Club
- Milan
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2016
