Diego Fabbrini

Diego Fabbrini (born 31 July 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie B club Spezia on loan from EFL Championship club Birmingham City. He has previously played for Empoli, Udinese and Watford, with loan spells at Palermo, Siena, Millwall, Birmingham City and Middlesbrough. He has been capped once for Italy.

Empoli

He made his first team debut in August 2009. In his first season as a professional player, at 19 years old, he became a regular and made 32 appearances, scoring a solitary goal in the 2009–10 Serie B campaign.

Udinese

On 31 August 2010, Udinese signed Fabbrini along with Gabriele Angella in a co-ownership deal for a total of €3 million. As part of the deal, Ricardo Chará and Flavio Lazzari joined Empoli, also in a co-ownership deal for a small fee, and Fabbrini would remain at Empoli for the 2010–11 season.

Fabbrini returned to Udine for the 2011–12 season and made his competitive debut on 24 August 2011, in the second leg of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League qualifying phase and play-off round at home to Arsenal, replacing Giampiero Pinzi, and picking up a yellow card in the 89th minute of the game.

On 31 August 2011, Udinese bought the remaining 50% registration rights from Empoli and Daniele Mori in a co-ownership deal, also from Empoli for a total of €2.4 million. On 25 September 2011, Fabbrini made his Serie A debut, in an away match against Cagliari. On 2 May 2012, he scored his first Serie A goal in 1–0 win against Cesena.

In November 2012, he extended his contract with Udinese to 2017.

Palermo (loan)

On 31 January 2013, Serie A club Palermo announced the signing of Fabbrini from Udinese on loan until the end of the 2012–13 season.

Watford

Fabbrini playing for Watford in 2014

On 19 July 2013, Fabbrini was one of seven Udinese players to sign for Watford on permanent deals, signing a contract until 2017. Fabbrini made his debut as a substitute in a 1–0 win away to Birmingham City on 3 August 2013. He scored his first goal for the club on 17 August, in a 3–3 draw with Reading.

Loans

Fabbrini joined Serie B side Siena on 31 January 2014 on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.

Fabbrini signed for Millwall on 15 January 2015 on a 93-day loan deal. He made his Millwall debut two days later against Ipswich Town, losing 3–1. Fabbrini made eleven starts under Ian Holloway's management, scoring once, but played only a few minutes in Millwall's three matches following Holloway's dismissal on 10 March. On the last day of the loan window, 26 March, Watford recalled him from Millwall and loaned him to fellow Championship club Birmingham City for the rest of the season.

An unused substitute for Birmingham's next match, Fabbrini was expected to start in the visit to AFC Bournemouth three days later, but broke his nose in training. He received treatment in Italy and returned wearing a protective mask to start the 2–1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 11 April, replacing Andy Shinnie in the playmaker role. He finished the season with five appearances.

On 27 July 2015, Fabbrini joined Middlesbrough on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season. Although there was no clause in the contract permitting a mid-season recall, once Middlesbrough signed Southampton's playmaker Gastón Ramírez on loan in the January 2016 transfer window, they agreed to a release allowing Fabbrini's loan to be terminated.

Birmingham City

Fabbrini signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 27 January 2016. The fee, of £1.5 million, was the highest the club had paid for five years. He made his second debut three days later, as a 62nd-minute substitute in a goalless draw away to Bristol City. He was initially unable to force himself into the starting eleven ahead of Jon Toral – Birmingham's player of the year – in manager Gary Rowett's favoured 4–2–3–1 formation, and acquired a reputation as a "diver", but when Toral was injured in the later part of the season, Fabbrini made what the Birmingham Mail called an "increasingly influential" contribution. In 2016–17, Rowett abandoned that formation, which left Fabbrini without a natural position. By Christmas, he had made only two league starts, and it became increasingly likely that he would leave in the January transfer window.

Spezia (loan)

On 23 January 2017, Fabbrini agreed a loan deal with Serie B club Spezia until the end of the season, with an option to purchase at a fee reported by the Corriere dello Sport as €1.5 million.

Fabbrini made his debut for the Italy U-21 side on 3 September 2010 in a qualification match against Bosnia and Herzegovina played in Sarajevo. He scored his first goal for the U-21s on 24 March 2011, in a friendly against Sweden.

He made his senior debut for the Italian national team on 15 August 2012, in a friendly match lost 2–1 against England, replacing Mattia Destro for the final six minutes and receiving a yellow card.

As of match played 21 January 2017