Luca Caldirola (born 1 February 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Monza. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a left-back.
![]() Caldirola warming up for Werder Bremen in 2017 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Date of birth | (1991-02-01) 1 February 1991 (age 31) | ||
Place of birth | Desio, Italy | ||
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Monza | ||
Number | 5 | ||
Youth career | |||
1995–1999 | Base 96 | ||
1999–2010 | Inter Milan | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2010–2011 | Inter Milan | 0 | (0) |
2010–2011 | → Vitesse Arnhem (loan) | 11 | (0) |
2011–2013 | Cesena | 18 | (0) |
2011–2012 | → Inter Milan (loan) | 0 | (0) |
2012–2013 | → Brescia (loan) | 38 | (0) |
2013–2019 | Werder Bremen | 46 | (1) |
2015–2016 | → Darmstadt 98 (loan) | 34 | (0) |
2017–2019 | Werder Bremen II | 3 | (0) |
2019–2021 | Benevento | 67 | (8) |
2021– | Monza | 35 | (0) |
National team | |||
2006–2007 | Italy U16 | 14 | (1) |
2007–2008 | Italy U17 | 9 | (0) |
2009 | Italy U18 | 3 | (0) |
2009–2010 | Italy U19 | 7 | (0) |
2010 | Italy U20 | 1 | (1) |
2010–2013 | Italy U21 | 31 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 November 2022 |
Caldirola started his career at Inter Milan, where he was the team captain at under-20 level (Primavera) and was occasionally called up to join the first team during the 2009–10 season, without making any appearances, however, on the pitch.[2] Caldirola also played for various youth teams in Lombardy as goalkeeper and midfielder before joined Inter[3] at the age of eight.[4] He played in a friendly match for the Inter first team in 2009.[5]
On 29 June 2010, Inter loaned out Caldirola to Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem of the Eredivisie for the entire 2010–11 season; he is the second Italian player to be part of the Arnhem club, after Marco De Marchi.[6] Inter also reduced the age limit of its Primavera team to under-19 in 2010, keeping only three players born in 1991 in the 2010–11 season as back-ups for the first team.
Half of the registration rights of Caldirola — and Luca Garritano — were sold to Cesena as part of the deal that brought defender Yuto Nagatomo to the San Siro in June 2011, after a successful loan.[7] Half of the registration rights of Caldirola was valued €2.5 million; Caldirola signed a four-year contract.[8] Both Caldirola and Garritano returned to Inter in a temporary deal for the 2011–12 season.
On 7 December 2011, Caldirola made his first team debut for Inter in a UEFA Champions League group stage match against CSKA Moscow which ended in a 2–1 loss at San Siro.[9]
On 4 January 2012, Inter confirmed that Caldirola signed a loan deal until the end of the season with the Serie B outfit Brescia.[10]
In June 2012, the co-ownership deal was renewed and Caldirola reported to Cesena in pre-season on 10 July 2012, where he played the first half of the season for the Romagna club before again being loaned to Brescia in January 2013,[11] where he finished the campaign with 15 league appearances.
In June 2013 Inter bought back Caldirola for €2.5 million, with Riccardo Melgrati and Thomas Pedrabissi moved to Cesena outright for €750,000 and €1 million respectively; Cesena also signed Yago Del Piero in co-ownership deal for €250,000, thus the deals only involves €500,000 cash to Cesena.[12]
On 26 June 2013, SV Werder Bremen confirmed the signing of Luca Caldirola from Inter on a four-year contract,[13] for a €2.5 million transfer fee.[14]
He missed most of the 2016–17 season due to injuries.[15] With his contract running out at the end of the month, he agreed to a two-year contract extension on 15 June 2017.[15]
After an envisaged transfer away from the club did not materialise in summer 2018, Caldirola trained with Werder Bremen's reserves in the first half of the 2018–19 season.[16]
On 15 July 2015, Caldirola was loaned out for a season to SV Darmstadt 98.[17]
On 30 January 2019, Caldirola joined Italian Serie B side Benevento on a free transfer, returning to Italy after five years.[18][16]
On 17 July 2021, Caldirola moved to Monza in the Serie B on a two-year contract.[19]
Caldirola has represented his native country of Italy at all youth levels, from under-16 to under-20.[20]
On 17 November 2010, he made his debut with the Italy under-21 team in a friendly match against Turkey in a 2–1 victory played in Fermo.
In 2009, he participated at the UEFA Under-19 Championship with the Italians.
In May 2011, he was called-on by Ciro Ferrara to play the games of the 2011 Toulon Tournament. Under the management of Devis Mangia, in 2012, Caldirola was named captain of the under-21 side, where he led the Azzurini in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
Club | Season | League | National cup[lower-alpha 1] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Vitesse | 2010–11 | Eredivisie | 11 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
Inter Milan | 2011–12 | Serie A | — | — | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
Brescia | 2011–12 | Serie B | 19 | 0 | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||
Cesena | 2012–13 | Serie B | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||
Brescia | 2012–13 | Serie B | 19 | 0 | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||
Werder Bremen | 2013–14 | Bundesliga | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 0 | ||
2014–15 | Bundesliga | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 1 | |||
2016–17 | Bundesliga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
2017–18 | Bundesliga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
Total | 46 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 1 | ||
Darmstadt 98 (loan) | 2015–16 | Bundesliga | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | ||
Werder Bremen II | 2016–17 | 3. Liga | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
2017–18 | 3. Liga | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
Benevento | 2018–19 | Serie B | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 3 | ||
2019–20 | Serie B | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 3 | |||
2020–21 | Serie A | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 2 | |||
Total | 67 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 8 | ||
Monza | 2021–22 | Serie B | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
2022–23 | Serie A | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
Total | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
Career total | 252 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 263 | 9 |
A.C. Monza – current squad | |
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