Daniel Maldini (born 11 October 2001) 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for 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 ...

and the Italy national team.

Early life

Maldini was born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, the second son of

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian football executive and former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greates ...

, the captain of

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, and Venezuelan model Adriana Fossa. His grandfather

Cesare Cesare is the Italian version of the given name Caesar, and surname Caesar. People with the given name * Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794), Italian philosopher and politician * Cesare Airaghi (1840–1896), Italian colonel * Cesare Arzelà (1847–19 ...

also captained Milan in the 1960s, making him the third generation to make appearances for the club. His elder brother

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

played for Milan's youth teams and went on to play professionally at a lower level.

Club career

Youth career

Maldini joined Milan's youth system in 2010, and over the following years he came through the various age-group teams, from the under-10 ''Pulcini'' to the under-19 ''Primavera''. In the 2016–17 season, he was part of the squad that won the Under-16 National Championship (''Campionato Nazionale Under-16''), defeating Lazio 5–2 in the final.

AC Milan

In July 2019, Maldini was called-up for the pre-season training with senior team by the newly appointed head coach

Marco Giampaolo Marco Giampaolo (; born 2 August 1967) is an Italian football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the head coach of Serie A club Lecce. Playing career Although born in Bellinzona, Switzerland, ...

. On 23 July 2019, Maldini made his senior debut for AC Milan in the ICC friendly tournament, playing for nearly an hour in the starting line-up against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

. On 2 February 2020, Maldini played his first competitive game with Milan in a 1–1

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 ...

home draw against

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

, coming on as an added-time substitute for Samu Castillejo. On 15 September 2021, Maldini came off the bench against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in a 3–2 defeat on his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut. On 25 September, Maldini started his first match for Milan in Serie A and scored the first goal in a 2–1 away win against

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 ...

. On 22 May 2022, he won his first trophy, the Serie A championship, like his father,

and grandfather,

Cesare Maldini Cesare Maldini (; 5 February 1932 – 3 April 2016) was an Italian professional football manager and player who played as a defender. Father to Paolo Maldini and grandfather to Daniel Maldini, Cesare began his career with Italian side Trie ...

before him. Throughout the season, he did not break through into the starting lineup, playing only 239 minutes in 13 matches in the club's league-winning

2021–22 Serie A The 2021–22 Serie A (known as the Serie A Telecom Italia, TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 120th season of top-tier Italian association football, football, the 90th in a round-robin tournament, and the 12th since its organization under an ...

campaign.

Loan to Spezia

On 29 July 2022, fellow Serie A side

announced Maldini had joined the club on a one-year loan from AC Milan. On 5 November 2022, on his league debut as a starter with Spezia, Maldini scored his first Serie A goal of the season against his parent team, AC Milan. On 10 March 2023, he scored a goal in a 2–1 victory over

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

, to be Spezia's first ever win against the latter.

Loan to Empoli

On 10 July 2023, fellow Serie A side

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

announced the signing of Maldini on a one-year loan with an option to buy.

Monza

On 10 January 2024, Milan sent Maldini on loan to fellow Serie A club

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

until the end of the 2023–24 season. He scored four goals in 11 league games. The deal was made permanent on 31 July 2024, with the player signing a two-year contract.

Atalanta

On 1 February 2025, Maldini moved permanently to

from Monza, for a reported transfer fee of €13m including performance-related bonuses.

International career

Maldini is eligible to represent either his native country

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 ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, the latter through his mother. He debuted for

Italy national under-18 football team The Italian national under-18 football team represents Italy in international football at an under-18 age level and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (''Federazione Italiana Gioco Calcio''), the governing body for football in Italy ...

in a 2–0 victory against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on 22 March 2019. Later that year, Maldini earned two caps for the under-19. In 2021, he played three times for Italy under-20 and scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on 7 October 2021. Maldini received his first call-up with the Italy national team for the

2024–25 UEFA Nations League The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League is the fourth season of the UEFA Nations League tournament, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The competition is being held f ...

matches against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

on 10 and 14 October 2024 respectively. He debuted against the latter opponent in a 4-1 victory, coming as a substitute at the 74th minute.

Style of play

Although in his very early days Maldini played as a defender like both his father

Paolo Paolo is a masculine given name, the Italian language, Italian form of the name Paul (name), Paul. It may refer to: People Art * Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American sculptor * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter * Paolo Anton ...

and grandfather

, he soon started to be employed in offensive roles. Today he mainly plays as a free roaming

, a position that suits his playmaking ability,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills, ball control, and vision.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

AC Milan *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maldini, Daniel 2001 births Living people Italian people of Slovenian descent Italian people of Venezuelan descent Footballers from Milan Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AC Milan players Spezia Calcio players Empoli FC players AC Monza players Atalanta BC players Serie A players Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's international footballers

Daniel Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the acti ...

21st-century Italian sportsmen