Alessio Cerci

Alessio Cerci (born 23 July 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a winger.

Cerci started his professional football career at Roma, playing four times for the first team before serving periods on loan at Brescia, Pisa and Atalanta.

On 16 May 2004, he made his debut in Serie A at the age of 16 under Fabio Capello in the 76th minute against Sampdoria, ending 0–0.

The following season, he was a key player in the Roma under-19 side that won the Campionato Primavera 2004–05.

With the first team, he made an additional two appearances, playing the final minutes against Internazionale and Cagliari.

On 21 March 2005, Cerci signed his first professional contract with Roma for three years.

However, he mostly continued to play with the youth team (winning the second edition of the Wojtyła Cup) and making just one appearance for the first team against Chievo on 30 April 2006.

On 18 August 2006, Cerci was loaned to Brescia in Serie B.

He made his debut in the cadets on 15 September in a 1–1 draw against Bari.

He played 21 times for Brescia (mostly as a substitute), helping the team finish the season in sixth place.

Cerci returned to Roma at the end of the season, before being loaned to Pisa in 2007.

Pisa was then a newly promoted side in Serie B and coached by Gian Piero Ventura, who quickly made Cerci a starter in his formation against Bari and Frosinone.

On 9 September 2007, Cerci scored his first official goal, in a 1–2 victory away to Cesena.

On 25 September, he scored again against Triestina before repeating himself against Treviso, Ascoli and AlbinoLeffe.

On 30 October 2007, he scored the first brace of his career during a 3–3 draw to Modena, scoring another two against Cesena on 9 February 2008.

On 12 February, however, he suffered a knee injury against his former club Brescia that sidelined him for two months.

He returned on 12 April, but after just seven days back, was stretchered off the field after a bad fall.

Magnetic resonance imaging highlighted that Cerci had broken his meniscus and had inflammation to his anterior cruciate ligament.

On 26 April 2008, he was operated on in Rome by the same doctor that had operated on Francesco Totti just days before, sidelining him for four months.

His first season was ended prematurely with ten goals in 26 appearances, along with seven assists.

Returning to Roma, Cerci was prepared to stay in the capital to play in Serie A, but on 25 July 2008, was loaned out to Atalanta for €250,000 with the right to purchase the player in co-ownership for €2.75 million.

Cerci once again selected the number 11 shirt, making his debut for the Nerazzurri against Chievo.

However, numerous injuries throughout the season limited him just to 11 appearances with no goals scored.

He returned to Roma in 2009, where he sporadically played under Claudio Ranieri and was sold to Fiorentina in August 2010.

Cerci returned to play for Roma in the 2009–10 season, scoring his first official goal for the club on 27 August 2009, a 4–0 victory against Košice in the UEFA Europa League playoffs (7–1 on aggregate).

In the league, Cerci played the first four matches against Genoa, Juventus, Catania and Napoli, but Claudio Ranieri would later bench him and mostly play him in the Europa League.

On 16 December 2009, he scored a brace during CSKA Sofia–Roma (0–3), the final match of the group stages.

He made a further appearance for the club in the second round against Greek side Panathinaikos, providing an assist in the first round for David Pizarro.

Cerci finished the season with a total of 19 appearances for Roma in Europe and Serie A, with three goals.

On 26 August 2010, Fiorentina signed Cerci outright from Roma for €4 million to be paid over the next three seasons.

Cerci made his debut for Fiorentina in the 29 August 2010 match against Napoli, ending 1–1, and scored his first goal in Serie A on 7 November 2010 against Chievo (1–0).

Near the end of the season, Cerci scored six goals in five games, with two braces.

He concluded the season with 26 appearances and seven goals in the league, plus one goal in Coppa Italia against Reggina.

However, Cerci had a difficult rapport with Fiorentina and its supporters.

After two seasons in Florence, he transferred to Torino in June 2012.

He made his senior international debut in March 2013 a friendly match against Brazil and was included in their squads for that year's Confederations Cup and the following year's World Cup, winning a bronze medal in the former competition.

Cerci grew up playing football in Valmontone before joining the Roma youth system.

At this time, he was nicknamed "l'Henry di Valmontone" ("the Thierry Henry of Valmontone") due to his playing style.

In September 2014, he was sold to Atlético Madrid, before returning to Italy to play for AC Milan and Genoa.

Internationally, Cerci has represented Italy from under-16 to under-21 youth levels.