Luca Cigarini

Luca Cigarini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluːka tʃiɡaˈriːni]; born 20 June 1986) is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Cagliari as a midfielder.

Luca Cigarini
Cigarini with Atalanta in March 2012
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-06-20) 20 June 1986
Place of birth Montecchio Emilia, Italy
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Cagliari
Number 8
Youth career
1997–2004 Parma
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2008 Parma 70 (4)
2004–2005 → Sambenedettese (loan) 33 (4)
2008–2009 Atalanta 23 (3)
2009–2011 Napoli 28 (2)
2010–2011 → Sevilla (loan) 6 (0)
2011–2016 Atalanta 150 (7)
2016–2017 Sampdoria 4 (0)
2017– Cagliari 73 (2)
National team‡
2004 Italy U18 1 (0)
2005 Italy U19 1 (0)
2005–2007 Italy U20 5 (0)
2005–2009 Italy U21 20 (1)
2008 Italy Olympic Team 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:05, 10 August 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 00:00, 12 October 2011 (UTC).

Club career

Parma

Cigarini was one of the notable youth products in the 2005 Parma squad, alongside Daniele Dessena.

Atalanta

After Parma was relegated to Serie B in June 2008, Cigarini was sold to Atalanta in join-ownership bid, for €4.5 million on 11 July.[1][2]

Napoli

On 3 July 2009, Cigarini signed for Napoli from Atalanta on a five-year deal for €10.5 million.[3] Atalanta paid Parma €3.5 million plus half the registration rights of Alessio Manzoni to sign Cigarini outright.[4]

On 2 August 2010, Cigarini joined Sevilla FC on a loan deal for the 2010–11 season who paid €292,500 for the loan and,[5] upon conclusion of the season, had the option to purchase the midfielder for €7 million.

Return to Atalanta

Cigarini returned to Atalanta on loan in summer 2011 for free.[6] On 4 July 2012, the loan was renewed for €1.25 million loan fee.[7][8]

On 5 July 2013, after spending two seasons on loan with Atalanta, a co-ownership deal was agreed to with Napoli for €2.75 million.[9] Cigarini continued to play for Atalanta for the upcoming 2013–14 Serie A season.[10] Cigarini scored his first goal of the season against Lazio on 20 October. In June 2014 Atalanta acquired Cigarini outright for €2.35 million.[9][11] Atalanta paid €5.75 million transfer fee in total to re-acquire Cigarini.

Sampdoria

After spending five years with Atalanta, Cigarini made the switch from Bergamo to Genoa, signing a permanent deal with Sampdoria.[12]

Cagliari

In 2017, Cigarini moved to Serie A rivals Cagliari in an exchange deal with Nicola Murru.[13]

International career

On 7 September 2007, Cigarini scored his first ever goal (which was also the winning goal) with the Italy U-21 squad in a 2–1 victory over the Faroe Islands in a UEFA U-21 Qualifying match. He was also part of Pierluigi Casiraghi's Olympic team that won the 2008 Toulon Tournament. He also played for Italy in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Cigarini received his first call-up to the senior team on 30 August 2010. New coach Cesare Prandelli named him in the squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers as an injury replacement for Claudio Marchisio.[14]

Style of play

Luca Cigarini usually plays as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, although he is also capable of playing as a central midfielder. He is mostly known for his ability to orchestrate his team's attacking moves, courtesy of his technical qualities and precise long passing. As a youngster, he was nicknamed il Professore (The Professor) by Cesare Prandelli, his Parma youth manager at the time, due to his playmaking abilities and intelligent reading of the game. The Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport has also stated that Cigarini has a similar vision of the game to that of fellow Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo.[15][16][17][18]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 August 2020[19][20][21]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Parma 2005–06 Serie A 17040––210
2006–07 2114160312
2007–08 32300—323
Total 7048160845
Atalanta 2008–09 Serie A 23310––243
Napoli 2009–10 Serie A 28210––292
Sevilla 2010–11 La Liga 604162163
Atalanta 2011–12 Serie A 32100––321
2012–13 27220––292
2013–14 33230––362
2014–15 33011––341
2015–16 25210––262
Total 150771001578
Sampdoria 2016–17 Serie A 4030––70
Cagliari 2017–18 Serie A 26210––272
2018–19 25030––280
2019–20 22000––220
Total 7324000772
Career total 3541828312239423

Honours

Italy U21

gollark: By induction.
gollark: Prove it mathematically.
gollark: You're just reading it wrong.
gollark: I should really fix that.
gollark: I really should fix that.

References
  1. "Cigarini all'Atalanta" (in Italian). Atalanta BC. 11 July 2008. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  2. Parma FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2009 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  3. SSC Napoli FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2010 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  4. Parma FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2010 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  5. SSC Napoli FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2011 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  6. SSC Napoli FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2012 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  7. SSC Napoli FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  8. "Cigarini ancora in nerazzurro" (in Italian). Atalanta BC. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  9. SSC Napoli FC SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  10. "Atalanta Invest in Cigarini". Football Italia. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  11. "Mercato Nerazzurro, le operazioni chiuse venerdì 20 giugno" (in Italian). Atlanta BC. 20 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  12. "Samp strengthen further, Cigarini arrives from Atalanta – U.C. Sampdoria". 20 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  13. "Official: Cigarini joins Cagliari". Football Italia. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  14. "Cigarini replaces Marchisio in Italy squad". Yahoo! News via Reuters. 30 August 2010.
  15. Andrea Schianchi (22 January 2012). "A Pirlo basta un lampo per accecare l'Atalanta" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  16. Scheda di Luca Cigarini, amonapoli.it
  17. Cigarini, il nuovo Pirlo: «Napoli nel mio destino», corrieredellosport.it
  18. Cigarini: «Stregato dal Napoli e da Donadoni» Corrieredellosport.it
  19. "L. Cigarini". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  20. "Luca Cigarini » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  21. "Luca Cigarini Statistics". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  22. http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/19078.pdf
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