Cristiano Piccini (; born 26 September 1992) is an 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for Swiss club

Yverdon Yverdon-les-Bains () (called Eburodunum and Ebredunum during the Ancient Rome, Roman era) is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Jura-North Vaudois District, Jura-Nord vaudois of the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It ...

Club career

Fiorentina

Born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Piccini joined

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

's youth setup in 2002, aged ten, after starting it out at Sporting Arno. On 5 December 2010, he made his first team – and

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

– debut, coming on as a substitute for Manuel Pasqual in a 1–0 home win against

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

. On 30 August 2011, Piccini was loaned to third division club

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. The team plays in Serie B, second tier of Italian football, after promotion from Serie C in 2023–24. History The club was foun ...

, in a season-long deal. He scored his first professional goal on 4 April of the following year, netting the first in a 3–1 home loss against Virtus Lanciano. The following season, Piccini joined

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

on loan until the end of the season. After being an undisputed starter, he was loaned to the top level's

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, with a buyout clause.

Betis

On 27 August 2014, Piccini moved to Spanish

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

. He made his debut on 7 September, starting in a 4–1 away loss against

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

in which he played a part in Jorge Molina's goal, and made 11 more appearances as they won the title. Piccini signed a permanent four-year deal with the ''Verdiblancos'' on 9 July 2015, with Fiorentina holding a buyback option. He made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut on 23 August, starting in a 1–1 home draw against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

. On 8 January 2017, Piccini scored his first top-flight goal to conclude a 2–0 win over

CD Leganés Club Deportivo Leganés, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Leganés, Community of Madrid. They currently compete in La Liga, the first tier of the Spanish league system. Leganés was officially founded 23 June 1928 and played thei ...

at the

Estadio Benito Villamarín es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered s ...

, and followed it two months later to open a 1–1 draw at

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. He was also sent off twice over the course of the season, the first coming after 16 minutes of a 3–1 loss at

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

for a foul on

Takashi Inui is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder and currently play for club, Shimizu S-Pulse. Club career Inui was an All Japan High School Soccer Tournament champion in 2006 with Yasu High School. In 2 ...

Sporting CP

On 18 May 2017, Piccini signed a five-year contract with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. He made his debut for the club on 6 August, as the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

season began with a 2–0 away win against C.D. Aves. Piccini played four games as Sporting won the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

. This included the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 27 January 2018, in which he played all 120 minutes of a 1–1 draw before defeating

Vitória F.C. Vitória Futebol Clube (), popularly known as Vitória de Setúbal, is a Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Setúbal that used to compete in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system ...

on penalties. On 31 March, he was sent off in a 1–0 loss away to S.C. Braga.

Valencia

On 23 July 2018, Piccini returned to La Liga, signing for

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

for a fee of around €10 million. In his debut season, he made 37 appearances, mostly as a starter, and scored a last-minute winner in a 2–1 home win over

SD Huesca Sociedad Deportiva Huesca, S.A.D., is a Spanish football club based in Huesca, in the autonomous community of Aragon. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the Segunda División, having played in the Spanish top division for the first time in th ...

on 23 December. Seven of these games were in the victorious

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

run, including 18 minutes as a substitute for Kévin Gameiro in the 2–1 final win over

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

on 25 May 2019; the result was Valencia's first honour since 2008. In August 2019, just two games into the new season, Piccini suffered a fractured

kneecap The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...

while in training, an injury that would leave him out of the squad until the end of year. He remained sidelined for the whole season, undergoing another operation in May 2020.

Loan to Atalanta

On 9 September 2020, Piccini joined Italian

club

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

on loan with an option to buy. The recovery from his kneecap injury delayed his debut until 21 November, when he played in a 0–0 away draw to

. This turned out to be his only appearance for the Bergamo side, as Valencia reached an agreement for his early return in January 2021.

Red Star Belgrade

On 15 January 2022, Piccini was released from

and signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Serbian club

Crvena Zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

1. FC Magdeburg

In September 2022 Piccini joined German club

1. FC Magdeburg 1. FC Magdeburg is a German Association football Football club (association football), club based in Magdeburg. The club was founded in 1965 from the football department of the Sports club (East Germany), sports club ''SC Magdeburg'' and has bee ...

of the 2. Bundesliga as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. On 29 January 2024, Piccini's contract with Magdeburg was terminated by mutual consent.

Sampdoria

On January 2024 31, Piccini joined Italian club Sampdoria UC of the

as a

, with a six-month contract, so he left the team on June 30..

Atlético San Luis

In July 2024 Piccini joined Mexican club

Atlético San Luis Club Atlético de San Luis is a Mexican professional football club based in San Luis Potosí. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 2013, replacing the defunct club of the city ( San Luis FC) after its re ...

of the

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

as a

. On February 7, 2025, he left the team by mutual agreement after he considered that he did not have the performance required by the team.

Yverdon

On 18 February 2025, Piccini signed with

in Switzerland until the end of the season.

International career

Piccini was given his first senior call-up for

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in October 2018 by manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for h ...

, following injuries to several players in the team. He made his senior debut for the national team on 10 October, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for

Alessandro Florenzi Alessandro Florenzi (born 11 March 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a full-back for club AC Milan. Florenzi started his professional club career with Roma in 2011, but spent the 2011–12 season on loan with Crotone. ...

in a 1–1 friendly draw against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Betis *

: 2014–15 Sporting CP *

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

runner-up: 2017–18 *

: 2017–18 Valencia *

: 2018–19 Red Star Belgrade *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

: 2021–22 *

Serbian Cup The Serbian Cup ( Serbian: Куп Србије / Kup Srbije), also known as Mozzart Serbian Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the national football cup of Serbia. The winner of the competition gets a spot in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round. ...

: 2021–22

References

External links

* *
FIGC Profile
in FIGC.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Piccini, Cristiano 1992 births Living people Footballers from Florence Italian men's footballers 21st-century Italian sportsmen Men's association football defenders Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players La Liga players Segunda División players Primeira Liga players Serbian SuperLiga players 2. Bundesliga players Liga MX players ACF Fiorentina players Spezia Calcio players US Livorno 1915 players Valencia CF players Atalanta BC players Real Betis players Sporting CP footballers Red Star Belgrade footballers 1. FC Magdeburg players UC Sampdoria players Atlético San Luis footballers Yverdon-Sport FC players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Italian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Italian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Italian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland