Claudio Zappa (born 30 March 1997) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Serie D club United Riccione.
![]() | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (September 2017) |
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | (1997-03-30) 30 March 1997 (age 25) | ||
Place of birth | Brescia, Italy | ||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Defender, midfielder | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | United Riccione | ||
Number | 11 | ||
Youth career | |||
Lumezzane[citation needed] | |||
AlbinoLeffe | |||
2013–2014 | Beira-Mar | ||
2014–2015 | Sassuolo | ||
2015 | → Juventus (loan) | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2015–2020 | Juventus | 0 | (0) |
2016–2017 | → Pontedera (loan) | 8 | (0) |
2017 | → Pordenone (loan) | 5 | (0) |
2017–2018 | → Pistoiese (loan) | 23 | (1) |
2018–2019 | → Juventus U23 (res.) | 10 | (1) |
2019 | → Novara (loan) | 4 | (0) |
2019–2020 | → Sliema Wanderers (loan) | 14 | (4) |
2020–2022 | Mantova | 27 | (1) |
2022 | Vibonese | 8 | (1) |
2022– | United Riccione | 4 | (1) |
National team | |||
2012 | Italy under-16[1] | 3 | (0) |
2013 | Italy under-17[1] | 7 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 September 2022 |
Zappa was born in Brescia, Italy. He began his professional career in the youth teams of local Lombardy club Lumezzane.[citation needed] In 2011, he was transferred to AlbinoLeffe,[citation needed] again in the youth sector.[2] In 2013, he completed a transfer to Portuguese club S.C. Beira-Mar, before returning to Italy less than a year later to sign with Sassuolo[3][4] for a fee of €220,000.[5] After impressing[according to whom?] for the youth sides, reigning Serie A champions Juventus made an approach for Zappa, initially signing him to a 6-month loan in February 2015.[6] Zappa was also suspended for 45 days in 2015 due to the irregular transfer to Portugal.[7] AlbinoLeffe also appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in order to recover part of the transfer fee.[8]
Juventus signed Zappa on loan in February 2015,[6] for a loan fee of €200,000.[9] He impressed[according to whom?] coach Fabio Grosso and was generally the starting left-back for the Primavera side, playing in the Campionato Nazionale Primavera,[failed verification] 2015–16 UEFA Youth League,[failed verification] Supercoppa Primavera[failed verification] and Torneo di Viareggio.[failed verification][6] In June 2015 Juventus signed Zappa in a definitive deal for an additional fee of €1.5 million.[9][10]
On 22 July 2016, Juventus confirmed that they had loaned Zappa to Lega Pro side Pontedera.[11] He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 Loss to Foggia Calcio in the first round of the Coppa Italia, on 31 July 2016.[12] Zappa's league debut came on 18 September 2016, playing 74 minutes against Racing Roma, after being listed on the bench for the previous two games against Olbia 1905 and Pistoiese.[13] On 16 January 2017, Zappa was recalled from Pontedera by Juventus, and the following day was sent out on loan again, this time to Pordenone until 30 June 2017.[14]
On 19 July 2017 Zappa was signed by Pistoiese.[15]
On 31 January 2019 he joined Novara on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.[16]
On 2 September 2019 he joined Maltese club Sliema Wanderers on loan.[17]
On 18 August 2020 he moved to Mantova, newly promoted to Serie C.[18]
On 31 January 2022, Zappa moved to Vibonese.[19]