Andrea Padula (born 4 April 1996) is a Swiss-born Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

club FC U Craiova.

Club career

Andrea Padula started with his youth football playing for AP Campionese in the Italian

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

Campione d'Italia Campione d'Italia ( Comasco: , ) is a ''comune'' of the Province of Como in the Lombardy region of Italy and an enclave surrounded by the Swiss canton of Ticino (it is also an exclave). At its closest, the enclave is less than from the rest of ...

. He joined FC Lugano and advanced through youth selection Team Ticino to the U-21 team before the 2014/15 season. By the end of the season, the then offensive player had made 20 appearances in the 1st division, the fourth-highest Swiss division, scoring six goals. However, the team were relegated to the fifth-rate 2nd league interregional. In 2015/16 Padula played 17 times in the fifth highest Swiss league, scoring six goals. In the 2016/17 season he was loaned out to second division club

FC Chiasso FC Chiasso is a Swiss football club based in Chiasso. It was founded in 1905. Chiasso also played in the Italian first league between 1914 and 1923. The team's most glorious period was between 1948 and 1961, when the team was promoted to the ...

. On 31 July 2016, the 2nd matchday, he made his debut in the second tier Challenge League in a 2–3 defeat against

FC Schaffhausen FC Schaffhausen is a Swiss football team from the town of Schaffhausen. The club plays in the Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. Honours League Swiss Challenge League *Winners: 1962-63, 2003–04 Cup Swiss Cup *Runners-up: ...

, he was in the starting XI. He became a regular player for the team and played 31 games during that season scoring twice. In the following season he was again loaned to Chiasso for six months. During this period he played as left winger or more often as

. During the winter break Padula was loaned out to

A.C. Monza Associazione Calcio Monza () is a professional football club that is based in Monza, Lombardy, Italy. The team plays in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football, following promotion in the 2021–22 Serie B season. The club was fou ...

for six months. Padula made his professional debut with Monza in a 1-0

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

loss to

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in Serie B in 1948. History The club was founded in 1908. In the season 2010–1 ...

on 4 February 2018. Returning to Switzerland Padula transferred from Lugano to Chiassso permanently and played for them for 18 months. During the winter break of the 2019/20 season he transferred to FC Wil under head coach

Ciriaco Sforza Ciriaco Sforza (; born 2 March 1970) is a Swiss football manager and former professional player who last managed Swiss Super League club Basel. After beginning his career with Swiss clubs FC Aarau and Grasshopper Club Zürich, he most notably p ...

. Sforza was hired as head coach by

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been Swiss national champions 20 times, Swiss Cup winners 13 times, and ...

for their 2020–21 season and on 11 September 2020 Padula followed Sforza and signed a contract with Basel. Padula played his debut for the club in the away game in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

on 17 September 2020 at the

Stadion Gradski vrt Gradski vrt Stadium ( hr, Stadion Gradski vrt, lit=City Garden Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Osijek, Croatia. It is located in the Gradski vrt neighbourhood in Novi grad city district. With a capacity of 17,061, it has been the home ground ...

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

as Basel won 2–1 against NK Osijek to advance to the next round. He made his

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

debut for the club in the home game in the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

three days later, on 20 September, as Basel played a 2–2 draw with

Vaduz Vaduz ( or , High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' Hrsg. ...

. Sforza was sacked by Basel in April 2021 and

Patrick Rahmen Patrick Rahmen (born 3 April 1969) is a Swiss football coach and former player who last worked as head coach for Basel. He played as midfielder or forward. Club career Patrick Rahmen learned his football skill playing with Nordstern Basel and t ...

took over the job as head coach ad-interim for the rest of the season and he was then engaged by the club as head coach for the following 2021–22 season. Rahmen and Padula decided that they would part company and the contract was mutually dissolved. During his time with the club, Padula played a total of 28 games for Basel without scoring a goal. 16 of these games were in the

, four in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and eight were friendly games. On 1 September 2022, Padula moved to

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , , Ticinese ; french: Bellinzone ; german: Bellenz ; rm, Blizuna )is a municipality, a historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its three castles (Castelgrande, Montebell ...

. On 3 July 2023, Padula moved to Romanian side

FC U Craiova 1948 U Craiova 1948, commonly known as FC U Craiova 1948 or FC U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I. It is along with CS Universitatea Craiova one of the two entities asserti ...

. He signed a contract valid until the summer of next year, but it has an option to extend it for another edition.

Personal life

Born in Switzerland, Padula is of Italian and Romanian descent. His mother is from Bucharest, Romania, and Padula said that he feels Romanian and his dream is to represent the

Romanian national team The Romania national football team ( ro, Echipa națională de fotbal a României) represents Romania in international men's football competition and is administered by the Romanian Football Federation ( ro, Federația Română de Fotbal), also ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

*
SFL Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padula, Andrea 1996 births People from Mendrisio Footballers from Ticino Swiss people of Romanian descent Swiss people of Italian descent Italian people of Romanian descent Romanian people of Italian descent Living people Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders FC Lugano players FC Chiasso players AC Monza players FC Wil players FC Basel players AC Bellinzona players FC U Craiova 1948 players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Serie C players Liga I players