Alessio Romagnoli


Alessio Romagnoli is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Serie A club Milan, for which he is captain, and the Italian national team.
He began his career with Roma in 2012, and later spent a season on loan with Sampdoria in 2014, before moving to Milan in 2015. At the start of the 2018–19 Serie A season, he was named the team's captain following Leonardo Bonucci's return to Juventus.

Club career

Roma

A product of Roma youth academy, Romagnoli was included in the first team squad by new head coach Zdeněk Zeman at age 17. He made his senior debut on 11 December 2012 against Atalanta, playing the full game in Coppa Italia as a starter. He made his Serie A debut 12 days later, as a substitute in the final minutes of a league game against Milan. He scored his first goal in Serie A on 3 March 2013 against Genoa.
He found more first-team opportunities in the second half of the 2013–14 season under new manager Rudi Garcia, both at full-back and in the centre of defence. On 31 May 2014, Romagnoli signed a new four-year contract with Roma.

Loan to Sampdoria

On 1 September 2014, Romagnoli was loaned to Sampdoria for €500,000, with an option to purchase for €2 million, as well as a counter-option of €750,000. Romagnoli made his Sampdoria debut as a late substitute in a 2–0 victory against Torino on 14 September. He scored his first goal for Sampdoria on 24 September 2014 in a 2–1 defeat of Chievo. In June 2015, Roma activated the buy-back clause and he returned to the club.

Milan

2015–16 season

On 11 August 2015, he was sold to Milan for a fee of €25 million, signing a five-year contract. In addition, there is a sell-on clause entitling Roma to 30% over the value of €25 million. He made his official debut for Milan on 18 August, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Perugia in Coppa Italia. Six days later, he made his first appearance in the league with the club, as Milan lost 2–0 to Fiorentina.
On 1 March 2016, he scored his first goal for Milan in a 5–0 win against Alessandria in Coppa Italia. This match sent Milan to the final for the first time since 2003. He concluded his first season with Milan with 40 appearances in all competitions and one goal.

2016–17 season

Romagnoli made his first appearance of the 2016–17 season in a 3–2 victory in Serie A against Torino. On 23 December, Romagnoli helped lead Milan to victory in the Supercoppa Italiana, playing the full 120 minutes as Milan beat Juventus 4–3 in the penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw after extra time. On 15 April 2017, Romagnoli scored his first ever Serie A goal for Milan in the Derby della Madonnina.

2017–18 season

After missing Milan's first 4 games of the season due to injury, he returned to the squad and he made his return to play the second leg of Europa league play offs against Shkëndija. On 19 September 2017, he made his first appearance of the Serie A season against Udinese.

2018–19 season

Following Leonardo Bonucci's return to Juventus, Romagnoli was appointed as Milan's team captain. Romagnoli scored stoppage-time winning goals two times in five days for Milan, earning his club a 2-1 win over Genoa and a 1-0 over Udinese.

International career

Romagnoli has represented Italy on multiple occasions at under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels. He made his first appearance for the Italy under-21 team against Northern Ireland on 5 March 2014, playing the full 90 minutes. With the Italy under-21, he took part at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, forming an effective partnership with fellow centre-back Daniele Rugani.
On 27 August 2016 Romagnoli was called up to the senior squad for the first time for a friendly against France on 1 September and a 2018 World Cup qualification match on 5 September against Israel. However, he was later moved to the under-21 squad for 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Serbia.
Romagnoli made his senior debut on 6 October 2016, in a 2018 World Cup qualification match, playing all 90 minutes, in a 1–1 home draw against Spain.
He scored his first senior international goal on 15 October 2019, in a 5–0 away win against Liechtenstein, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.

Style of play

An elegant, versatile, composed and gifted left-footed centre-back, with good technique and distribution, Romagnoli is known for his confidence in possession, and ability to play the ball out from the back; due to his ability to advance into more attacking positions or put pressure on opponents higher up on the pitch, he is also capable of functioning as a left-sided full-back. Romagnoli is effective in the air and known for his ability to time his challenges; regarded as one of the most promising young Italian defenders of his generation, his precocious displays, technique, positional sense, decision-making, and tackling abilities have led pundits to compare him with legendary Italian defender Alessandro Nesta, whom Romagnoli has described as his footballing idol. In 2015, Romagnoli was named one of the top 100 young footballers in the world born after 1994 by Don Balón.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Club

;Milan