Samuele Ricci (born 21 August 2001) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as midfielder for Serie A club Torino, on loan from Empoli, and the Italy national under-21 team.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 21 August 2001 | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Pontedera, Italy | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | |||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||
Current team | Torino | |||||||||||||
| Number | 28 | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Empoli | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2019– | Empoli | 83 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2022– | → Torino (loan) | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||
| International career‡ | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Italy U17 | 12 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Italy U18 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Italy U19 | 11 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2020– | Italy U21 | 11 | (1) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:50, 7 March 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 March 2022 | ||||||||||||||
Club career
Empoli
Ricci came through the Empoli youth teams and started playing for their under-19 squad in the 2018–19 season.[1] He was called up to the senior squad for the first time in April 2019, but remained on the bench on that occasion. He made his professional debut for Empoli on 21 September 2019, at the age of 18, replacing Leo Štulac in a 1–0 win against Cittadella.[2] On 3 December, he made his debut in the Coppa Italia, in the 4th round round lost 1–0 against Cremonese. Having become a starter, he ended the season with 30 total appearances.
The following season, the coach Alessio Dionisi mainly used him as a mezzala. On 18 January 2021, he scored his first goal as a professional in the 5–0 victory against Salernitana. Empoli finished the season in first place in the league standing and were promoted to Serie A, with Ricci winning the Manlio Scopigno award as the best player of the season.[3]
On 21 August 2021, on his 20th birthday, Ricci made his Serie A debut in the 3–1 home loss against Lazio. The following 26 September, he scored his first goal in Serie A, in the match won 4–2 against Bologna.
Loan to Torino
On 30 January 2022, Ricci was loaned to Torino with a conditional obligation to purchase.[4]
International career
He was first called-up to represent his country in December 2017 for an Under-17 squad friendly against France.[5]
He was included in the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship squad and played in five out of six games, including 4 as a starter. He started the final game and scored Italy's first goal in a 2–2 draw, but was substituted before Italy lost to Netherlands in a penalty shoot-out and finished as runners-up.
At the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, he started all three games as Italy was eliminated at group stage.
On 13 October 2020 he made his debut with the Italy U21 playing as a starter in a qualifying match won 2–0 against Republic of Ireland in Pisa.
Style of play
Ricci is a right-footed player, mainly deployed as playmaker in front of the defence or as a midfielder.[6] Gifted with excellent individual technique and sense of positioning, he is regarded as one of the most important prospects in Italian football. His reference model is Andrea Pirlo.[7]
Personal life
Career statistics
- As of match played 23 January 2022[9]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Empoli | 2019–20 | Serie B | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | |
| 2020–21 | Serie B | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Serie A | 21 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 24 | 1 | ||
| Total | 83 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | 3 | ||
| Torino | 2021–22 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| Career total | 85 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 3 | ||
Honours
Individual
References
- ^ Samuele Ricci at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
- ^ "Empoli v Cittadella game report". Soccerway. 21 September 2019.
- ^ "Samuele Ricci ha vinto il premio Manlio Scopigno come miglior calciatore dell'ultimo campionato di Serie B". 3 August 2021.
- ^ "Ricci al Toro" (Press release) (in Italian). Torino. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
- ^ "Ricci Italy U17 profile by FIGC" (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ^ "Ricci, il talento dell'Empoli che studia da campione. In campo e sui libri".
- ^ "Empoli, gli occhi di mezza Serie a sul gioiello Samuele Ricci". 24 March 2020.
- ^ "Empoli calcio, Samuele Ricci positivo al covid 19" (in Italian). Il Tirreno. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
- ^ "Samuele Ricci".
- ^ "Lukaku, Ronaldo and Conte win Serie A awards for 2020-21". Football Italia. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
External links
- Samuele Ricci at Soccerway
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