Luca Caldirola (born 1 February 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Monza. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a left-back.

Luca Caldirola
Caldirola warming up for Werder Bremen in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1991-02-01) 1 February 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Desio, Italy
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Monza
Number 5
Youth career
1995–1999 Base 96
1999–2010 Inter Milan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2011 Inter Milan 0 (0)
2010–2011Vitesse (loan) 11 (0)
2011–2013 Cesena 18 (0)
2011–2012Inter Milan (loan) 0 (0)
2012–2013Brescia (loan) 38 (0)
2013–2019 Werder Bremen 46 (1)
2015–2016Darmstadt 98 (loan) 34 (0)
2017–2019 Werder Bremen II 3 (0)
2019–2021 Benevento 67 (8)
2021– Monza 84 (3)
International career
2006–2007 Italy U16 14 (1)
2007–2008 Italy U17 9 (0)
2009 Italy U18 3 (0)
2009–2010 Italy U19 7 (0)
2010 Italy U20 1 (1)
2010–2013 Italy U21 31 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 June 2024

Club career

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Inter Milan

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2009–10 season

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Caldirola started his career at Inter Milan, where he was the team captain at under-20 level (Primavera) and was occasionally called up to join the first team during the 2009–10 season, without making any appearances, however, on the pitch.[2] Caldirola also played for various youth teams in Lombardy as goalkeeper and midfielder before joined Inter[3] at the age of eight.[4] He played in a friendly match for the Inter first team in 2009.[5]

2010–11 season

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On 29 June 2010, Inter loaned out Caldirola to Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem of the Eredivisie for the entire 2010–11 season; he is the second Italian player to be part of the Arnhem club, after Marco De Marchi.[6] Inter also reduced the age limit of its Primavera team to under-19 in 2010, keeping only three players born in 1991 in the 2010–11 season as back-ups for the first team.

Half of the registration rights of Caldirola — and Luca Garritano — were sold to Cesena as part of the deal that brought defender Yuto Nagatomo to the San Siro in June 2011, after a successful loan.[7] Half of the registration rights of Caldirola was valued €2.5 million; Caldirola signed a four-year contract.[8] Both Caldirola and Garritano returned to Inter in a temporary deal for the 2011–12 season.

2011–12 season

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Caldirola with Inter Milan in the late 2011

On 7 December 2011, Caldirola made his first team debut for Inter in a UEFA Champions League group stage match against CSKA Moscow which ended in a 2–1 loss at San Siro.[9]

On 4 January 2012, Inter confirmed that Caldirola signed a loan deal until the end of the season with the Serie B outfit Brescia.[10]

2012–13 season

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In June 2012, the co-ownership deal was renewed and Caldirola reported to Cesena in pre-season on 10 July 2012, where he played the first half of the season for the Romagna club before again being loaned to Brescia in January 2013,[11] where he finished the campaign with 15 league appearances.

In June 2013 Inter bought back Caldirola for €2.5 million, with Riccardo Melgrati and Thomas Pedrabissi moved to Cesena outright for €750,000 and €1 million respectively; Cesena also signed Yago Del Piero in co-ownership deal for €250,000, thus the deals only involves €500,000 cash to Cesena.[12]

Werder Bremen

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On 26 June 2013, SV Werder Bremen confirmed the signing of Luca Caldirola from Inter on a four-year contract,[13] for a €2.5 million transfer fee.[14]

He missed most of the 2016–17 season due to injuries.[15] With his contract running out at the end of the month, he agreed to a two-year contract extension on 15 June 2017.[15]

After an envisaged transfer away from the club did not materialise in summer 2018, Caldirola trained with Werder Bremen's reserves in the first half of the 2018–19 season.[16]

Darmstadt 98 (loan)

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On 15 July 2015, Caldirola was loaned out for a season to SV Darmstadt 98.[17]

Benevento

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On 30 January 2019, Caldirola joined Italian Serie B side Benevento on a free transfer, returning to Italy after five years.[18][16]

Monza

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On 17 July 2021, Caldirola moved to Monza in the Serie B on a two-year contract.[19]

International career

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Caldirola has represented his native country of Italy at all youth levels, from under-16 to under-20.[20]

On 17 November 2010, he made his debut with the Italy under-21 team in a friendly match against Turkey in a 2–1 victory played in Fermo.

In 2009, he participated at the UEFA Under-19 Championship with the Italians.

In May 2011, he was called-on by Ciro Ferrara to play the games of the 2011 Toulon Tournament. Under the management of Devis Mangia, in 2012, Caldirola was named captain of the under-21 side, where he led the Azzurini in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 5 November 2023[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Vitesse 2010–11 Eredivisie 11 0 11 0
Inter Milan 2011–12 Serie A 1[b] 0 1 0
Brescia 2011–12 Serie B 19 0 19 0
Cesena 2012–13 Serie B 18 0 1 0 19 0
Brescia 2012–13 Serie B 19 0 19 0
Werder Bremen 2013–14 Bundesliga 33 0 1 0 34 0
2014–15 Bundesliga 7 1 1 0 8 1
2016–17 Bundesliga 5 0 0 0 5 0
2017–18 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 46 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 48 1
Darmstadt 98 (loan) 2015–16 Bundesliga 34 0 2 0 36 0
Werder Bremen II 2016–17 3. Liga 2 0 2 0
2017–18 3. Liga 1 0 1 0
Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Benevento 2018–19 Serie B 16 3 0 0 16 3
2019–20 Serie B 33 3 1 0 10 3
2020–21 Serie A 18 2 0 0 18 2
Total 67 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 68 8
Monza 2021–22 Serie B 24 0 1 0 3 0 28 0
2022–23 Serie A 27 2 0 0 27 2
2023–24 Serie A 10 1 1 0 11 1
Total 61 3 2 0 0 0 3 0 66 3
Career total 278 12 8 0 1 0 3 0 290 12
  1. ^ Includes Coppa Italia, DFB-Pokal
  2. ^ Appearance in UEFA Champions League

References

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  1. ^ "Luca Caldirola". AC Monza. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Luca Caldirola joins SBV Vitesse". F.C. Internazionale Milano. 29 June 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  3. ^ "NAMES FOR THE FUTURE: LUCA CALDIROLA". F.C. Internazionale Milano. 28 April 2004. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Three youngsters with first team for TIM Trophy". F.C. Internazionale Milano. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  5. ^ "TIM Trophy: Inter 1–0 A.C. Milan". F.C. Internazionale Milano. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Vitesse huurt Caldirola van Internazionale" (in Dutch). Vitesse. 29 June 2010. Archived from the original on 5 August 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Transfer market: Nagatomo belongs to Inter now". F.C. Internazionale Milano. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  8. ^ A.C. Cesena SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2012 (in Italian)
  9. ^ Mark Doyle (7 December 2011). "Inter 1-2 CSKA Moscow: Russians snatch victory in San Siro to join Serie A side in knockout stages". Goal.com. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  10. ^ "Transfer market: Caldirola joins Brescia on loan". inter.it. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  11. ^ "Calciomercato Inter: Caldirola torna al Brescia" [Transfer market Inter: Caldirola returns to Brescia] (in Italian). Calciomercato.com. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  12. ^ AC Cesena SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013 (in Italian)
  13. ^ "Transfer fix! Vier-Jahresvertrag für Luca Caldirola" (in German). Werder Bremen. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  14. ^ F.C. Internazionale Milano SpA bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013 (in Italian)
  15. ^ a b Hanke, Maik (15 June 2017). "WERDER BESTÄTIGT CALDIROLA-VERLÄNGERUNG". WerderStube (in German). Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  16. ^ a b "Caldirola-Wechsel zu Benevento Calcio perfekt". Deichstube (in German). Kreiszeitung. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Lilien leihen Luca Caldirola von Werder Bremen aus" (in German). SV Darmstadt 98. 15 July 2015. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  18. ^ "UFFICIALE: Benevento, colpo Caldirola per la difesa" (in Italian). Retrieved 30 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Luca Caldirola è del Monza" [Luca Caldirola is a Monza player]. AC Monza (in Italian). 17 July 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  20. ^ "NOME: CALDIROLA LUCA" (in Italian). FIGC.it. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  21. ^ Luca Caldirola at Soccerway. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
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