Alessio Romagnoli
Alessio Romagnoli (; born 12 January 1995) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for and captains Serie A club Milan. He represents the Italy national team. Though he grew up supporting Lazio (a club he's still a fan of today), 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 AC 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. AC Milan. 2015–16 season. On 11 August 2015, he was sold to AC 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 a few months after he renewed his contract on 5 June 2018. 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. 2019–20 season. Romagnoli was the only player on the team to have been featured in every game of the season for its entirety before a muscle injury on 21 July 2020 in a home game against Sassuolo. Having his captain's armband handed in to Gianluigi Donnarumma, he was substituted for Matteo Gabbia after 32 minutes and missed the last three games of the season. He finished the season with 39 games in total and  one goal. 2020–21 season. In his sixth season for Milan, Romagnoli had a string of minor injuries and a series of poor performances, causing him to unexpectedly lose his place in the starting 11 to Fikayo Tomori, a loanee who arrived from Chelsea during the winter transfer window. Rarely playing in the second half of season, he made just 22 appearances in Serie A, scoring one goal on 29 November 2020 in a 2–0 home win over Fiorentina. Following the sub-par season, Romagnoli was not called up by the national team coach Roberto Mancini to join the provisional squad  for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2020 (competition postponed for a year due to the pandemic) and was also rumored to have been placed on a transfer market due to the approaching expiration of his contract and unwillingness of the club management to deal with agent Mino Raiola who had recently convinced the team's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to leave the club as a free agent. He has a contract that runs till the end of June 2022. 2021–22 season. On 28 November 2021, Romagnoli scored his first goal of the season against Sassuolo in eventual 3-1 loss. On 9  February 2022 against Lazio he assisted the opening goal in eventual 4-0 win, a long pass through the field to his teammate Leao. Contract expiration : Romagnoli contract ends on the summer of 2022, an offer was made to him by team with a salary of €2.8 millions per year, however the player rejected the offer as he reportedly earns €6 millions per year in his current contract. 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. Honours. Milan