Cristiano Piccini (Italian pronunciation: [kriˈstjaːno pitˈtʃiːni]; born 26 September 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right back for 2. Bundesliga club 1. FC Magdeburg. He made three appearances for the Italy national team.
![]() Piccini with Valencia in 2021 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | (1992-09-26) 26 September 1992 (age 30) | ||
Place of birth | Florence, Italy | ||
Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Right back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | 1. FC Magdeburg | ||
Number | 2 | ||
Youth career | |||
1997–2002 | Sporting Arno | ||
2002–2011 | Fiorentina | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2010–2015 | Fiorentina | 1 | (0) |
2011–2012 | → Carrarese (loan) | 32 | (1) |
2012–2013 | → Spezia (loan) | 30 | (0) |
2013–2014 | → Livorno (loan) | 20 | (0) |
2014–2015 | → Betis (loan) | 12 | (0) |
2015–2017 | Betis | 39 | (2) |
2017–2018 | Sporting CP | 24 | (0) |
2018–2022 | Valencia | 31 | (2) |
2020–2021 | → Atalanta (loan) | 1 | (0) |
2022 | Red Star Belgrade | 10 | (0) |
2022– | 1. FC Magdeburg | 0 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2011 | Italy U19 | 5 | (1) |
2011–2012 | Italy U20 | 7 | (0) |
2013 | Italy U21 | 1 | (0) |
2018–2019 | Italy | 3 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:59, 10 April 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2019 |
Born in Florence, Piccini joined Fiorentina's youth setup in 2002, aged ten, after starting it out at Sporting Arno. On 5 December 2010, he made his first team – and Serie A – debut, coming on as a substitute for Manuel Pasqual in a 1–0 home win against Cagliari.[2]
On 30 August 2011, Piccini was loaned to third division club Carrarese, in a season-long deal.[3] He scored his first professional goal on 4 April of the following year, netting the first in a 3–1 home loss against Virtus Lanciano.[4]
The following season, Piccini joined Spezia of Serie B on loan until the end of the season.[5] After being an undisputed starter, he was loaned to the top level's Livorno, with a buyout clause.[6]
On 27 August 2014, Piccini moved to Spanish Segunda División side Real Betis.[7] He made his debut on 7 September, starting in a 4–1 away loss against SD Ponferradina in which he played a part in Jorge Molina's goal,[8] and made 11 more appearances as they won the title.
Piccini signed a permanent four-year deal with the Verdiblancos on 9 July 2015, with Fiorentina holding a buyback option.[9] He made his La Liga debut on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against Villarreal CF.[10]
On 8 January 2017, Piccini scored his first top-flight goal to conclude a 2–0 win over CD Leganés at the Estadio Benito Villamarín,[11] and followed it two months later to open a 1–1 draw at Deportivo de La Coruña.[12] He was also sent off twice over the course of the season, the first coming after 16 minutes of a 3–1 loss at SD Eibar for a foul on Takashi Inui.[13]
On 18 May 2017, Piccini signed a five-year contract with Sporting CP.[14] He made his debut for the club on 6 August, as the Primeira Liga season began with a 2–0 away win against C.D. Aves.[15]
Piccini played four games as Sporting won the Taça da Liga. This included the final on 27 January 2018, in which he played all 120 minutes of a 1–1 draw before defeating Vitória F.C. on penalties.[16] On 31 March, he was sent off in a 1–0 loss away to S.C. Braga.[17]
On 23 July 2018, Piccini returned to La Liga, signing for Valencia for a fee of around €10 million.[18] In his debut season, he made 37 appearances, mostly as a starter, and scored a last-minute winner in a 2–1 home win over SD Huesca on 23 December.[19] Seven of these games were in the victorious Copa del Rey run, including 18 minutes as a substitute for Kévin Gameiro in the 2–1 final win over FC Barcelona on 25 May 2019; the result was Valencia's first honour since 2008.[20]
In August 2019, just two games into the new season, Piccini suffered a fractured kneecap while in training, an injury that would leave him out of the squad until the end of year.[21] He remained sidelined for the whole season, undergoing another operation in May 2020.[22]
On 9 September 2020, Piccini joined Italian Serie A club Atalanta on loan with an option to buy.[23] The recovery from his kneecap injury delayed his debut until 21 November, when he played in a 0–0 away draw to Spezia. This turned out to be his only appearance for the Bergamo side, as Valencia reached an agreement for his early return in January 2021.[24]
On 15 January 2022, Piccini was released from Valencia and signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Serbian club Crvena Zvezda.[25]
In September 2022 Piccini joined German club 1. FC Magdeburg of the 2. Bundesliga as a free agent.[26]
Piccini was given his first senior call-up for Italy in October 2018 by manager Roberto Mancini, following injuries to several players in the team.[27] He made his senior debut for the national team on 10 October, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Alessandro Florenzi in a 1–1 friendly draw against Ukraine in Genoa.[28]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Fiorentina | 2010–11 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
Carrarese (loan) | 2011–12 | Lega Pro Prima Divisione | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 1 | ||
Spezia (loan) | 2012–13 | Serie B | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 0 | ||
Livorno (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie A | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||
Real Betis (loan) | 2014–15 | Segunda División | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||
Real Betis | 2015–16 | La Liga | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
2016–17 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 25 | 3 | ||||
Total | 39 | 2 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 43 | 3 | ||||
Sporting CP | 2017–18 | Primeira Liga | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 40 | 0 |
Valencia | 2018–19 | La Liga | 23 | 1 | 7 | 0 | — | 8[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 38 | 1 | |
2019–20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
2020–21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||||
2021–22 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 1 | ||||
Total | 34 | 2 | 9 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | 51 | 2 | |||
Atalanta (loan) | 2020–21 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
Red Star Belgrade | 2021–22 | SuperLiga | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
Career total | 203 | 5 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 248 | 6 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Italy | 2018 | 2 | 0 |
2019 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 3 | 0 |
Sporting CP
Valencia
Red Star Belgrade
1. FC Magdeburg – current squad | |
---|---|
|