Tommaso Bianchi

Tommaso Bianchi (born 1 November 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Novara. He is a former Italy U21 international.

Tommaso Bianchi
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-11-01) 1 November 1988
Place of birth Piombino, Italy
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Centre midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Novara
Number 23
Youth career
Follonica
0000–2005 Piacenza
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2011 Piacenza 81 (6)
2010 → Chievo (loan) 0 (0)
2011–2014 Sassuolo 59 (4)
2013–2014 → Modena (loan) 41 (3)
2014–2016 Leeds United 24 (0)
2016 → Ascoli (loan) 16 (0)
2016–2018 Ascoli 55 (4)
2018– Novara
National team
2006 Italy U19 1 (0)
2007–2008 Italy U20 6 (0)
2009 Italy U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 May 2018

Club career

Piacenza

After starting his career at Follonica. The following year he arrived in the youth team of Piacenza with whom he made his debut in Serie B, on 19 March 2006 against Ternana. On 29 August 2009 scored the first two goals in a 3–2 defeat to Lecce.

On 1 February 2010, he joined Serie A side Chievo on loan, with the option to buy half of his ownership at the end of the deal, however he failed to play a single game for Chievo and returned to Piacenza at the end of the season.

In the first match after returning to Piacenza, the second round of the Italian Cup against Virtus Lanciano, he scored the 4th goal in a 5–3 victory. At the end of the season, he'd made 37 appearances in the league, 2 in the play-off and 2 in the Italian Cup with 4 goals in the league and 1 in the Italian Cup, making him the most picked player, along with Mario Cassano in the season, however the season ended with Piacenza being relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione. Playing the next season as a starter in the cup matches against Pontedera and Empoli.

Sassuolo

On 31 August, the last day before the end of the transfer window, he was sold in co-ownership to Sassuolo for €300,000.[1] Making his debut on September in a 2–0 win against the Citadella. After a season as a starter, with 29 league appearances, he helped Sassuolo to a 3rd-place finish in Serie B, however Sassuolo missed out on promotion via the Serie B playoffs after being knocked out 3–2 on aggregate by the eventual winners Sampdoria.

On 20 June 2012, after impressing in his first season, his ownership was made permanent at Sassuolo. His first goal came on 15 December 2012, in a 3–1 win away to Calcio Padova. On 18 May 2013, Sassuolo won promotion from Serie B as Champions, which saw them reach an extraordinary feat in that this would be the first time that Sassuolo were in the top tier of Italian football Serie A in the team led by Eusebio Di Francesco.

Loan to Modena

In the last market day he went on loan to Modena, returning to Serie B. He made his debut with the canaries on 8 September in a 2–0 win over Cittadella. He scored his first goal with gialloblù on October 19 in the 3–0 home win against Reggina. Bianchi impressed and finished the season with 38 appearances and 3 goals in the league and 3 appearances in the playoffs, Modena finished the season in the playoffs in 5th, after beating Spezia 1–0 in the preliminary round of the Serie B playoffs, Bianchi's side were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual playoff winners Cesena after losing 2–1 on aggregate in two legs of the semi finals of the Serie B promotion playoffs.

Leeds United

On 8 July 2014, Bianchi started training with Leeds United ahead of a proposed three-year deal with the option of an additional year.[2][3] His signing was confirmed by the Leeds United Official Twitter Page on 12 July.[4][5] On 1 August, Bianchi was assigned the number 14 shirt for the 2014/15 season.[6]

His league debut was delayed as he was forced to miss the opening game of the season, away to Millwall, due to suspension carried over from the previous season in Italy.[7] Bianchi made his Leeds United debut on 12 August 2014, starting the League Cup match against Accrington Stanley.[8] Bianchi made his league debut on 16 August in Leeds' 1–0 victory against Middlesbrough after a goal by Billy Sharp.[9] After being a regular starter for Leeds, after 23 league appearance, Bianchi picked up a serious knee injury in a 2–0 victory against Reading on 10 February and had to be substituted.[10] The injury was set to rule Bianchi out for the rest of the 2014/15 season, with Bianchi requiring knee surgery after suffering medial ligament damage.[11]

After missing the rest of the 2014/15 season through injury, On 10 July 2015, Bianchi returned from injury in Leeds' first pre season friendly game for the 2015/16 season in a 1–1 draw against Harrogate Town.[12] Bianchi picked up another knee injury against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 2–1 pre season friendly defeat on 21 July 2015.[13] The injury required knee cartilage surgery and ruled Bianchi out of the beginning of the 2015/16 season for Leeds.[14]

Loan to Ascoli

On 28 January 2016, Bianchi was loaned to Italian Serie B side Ascoli, for the remainder of the 2015–16 season, with the view to a permanent deal.[15] On 30 January 2016, Bianchi was given a red card 25 minutes into his debut after picking up 2 yellow cards in a 3–0 defeat to Cesena. In total, he played 16 league appearances for Ascoli, his appearances helped them stave off relegation by guiding them to a mid-table finish in 15th position.[16]

International career

Bianchi has played with the Italy national under-19 football team and made six appearances for the Italy under-20 side.

On 4 September 2009, he played his only game for the Under-21 team coached by Pierluigi Casiraghi, playing as a starter in the Wales-Italy (2–1) qualifier for 2011 European Championship. During the game Bianchi played with future Italy internationals Mario Balotelli and Andrea Ranocchia.[17]

Style of play

Bianchi known for his short passing style; a versatile right-footed midfielder, although he is primarily a central midfielder, he can also play as a defensive midfielder, as a winger on either flank, or in the 'number 10' role.[18]

Honours

Sassuolo

gollark: Why would they do that?
gollark: They're twice as good as UVs.
gollark: Nuuuu!
gollark: They might have lost their interweb.
gollark: ↑

References
  1. US Sassuolo Calcio Srl bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2011 (in Italian), PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
  2. "Leeds United complete Silvestri and Bianchi signings". Yorkshire Evening Post. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  3. "Leeds United President Massimo Cellino on new signings, McCormack, Elland Road & buying a bus". BBC Sport. 11 July 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  4. "COMPLETE: We can now confirm the signing of Tommaso Bianchi, who arrives for an undisclosed fee from Sassuolo". Leeds United Official Twitter Page. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  5. "UNITED COMPLETE BIANCHI SIGNING". Leeds United Official Site. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  6. "SQUAD NUMBERS RELEASED". Leeds United. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  7. "Millwall v Leeds". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  8. "Leeds V Accrington". Leeds United. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  9. "DEBUTANT SHARP BLUNTS BORO". Leeds United Official Site. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  10. "Reading 0 Leeds 2". BBC Sport. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  11. "Midfielder Bianchi out for the season as he awaits knee operation". Yorkshire Evening Post. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  12. "UNITED HELD IN HARROGATE FRIENDLY". Leedsunited.com. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  13. "Leeds United supporters attacked by Eintracht Frankfurt thugs in ugly scenes following pre-season friendly in Austria as 25 are detained and fans are left bloodied". Mail Online. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  14. "INJURY NEWS: BIANCHI FACING SPELL OUT". Leeds United Official Site. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  15. "BIANCHI IN ITALIAN LOAN SWITCH". Leeds United F.C. 28 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  16. "The Cellino connection: His old aide is behind Bianchi's return from Leeds United to Italy". Yorkshire Evening Post. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  17. "Wales u21 2–1 Italy u21". S4C (in Welsh). 4 September 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  18. "UNITED COMPLETE BIANCHI SIGNING". Leeds United Official Site. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
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