Davide Lanzafame (; born 9 February 1987) is an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former professional player, who played as a striker or

right winger 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. ...

. He is in charge of

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

amateurs Borgaro.

Playing career

Juventus

Lanzafame, born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

to a Catanese father and a

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

ese mother, grew up in the Juventus youth team and had been part of the Juventus youth side, competing in competitions such as

Campionato Nazionale Primavera The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in the 1 ...

until 2006, before making his senior team debut for Juve during their 2006–07 season in

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 ...

campaign. Italy Under-21 boss Pierluigi Casiraghi called him up for the 2008 Toulon Tournament and listed him as a reserve player for the Olympics that summer.

Bari

Ahead of the

2007–08 Serie A The 2007–08 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 106th season of top-tier Italian football, the 76th in a round-robin tournament. It started on 25 August 2007 and ended on 18 May 2008. Internazionale Milano succe ...

season,

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

loaned Lanzafame to

side

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. Lanzafame endured a highly successful loan spell in which he made 37 league appearances, scoring ten goals. In April 2008, coach

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

compared him to

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

, stating that he has the possibility and potential to reach similar levels in his football and quoting "Lanzafame has improved tactically” to La Gazzetta dello Sport. “He is explosive; he sniffs the goal and imposes his speed outside the area. If he improves and learns he can become like Cristiano Ronaldo." Lanzafame returned to Turin on 30 June 2008.

Palermo

On 1 July 2008,

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

announced to have finalized the signing of Lanzafame from Juventus in a co-ownership deal, for €2.5 million, as part of the deal that saw

Amauri Amauri Carvalho de Oliveira (born 3 June 1980), known as Amauri, is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker. His previous clubs include Bellinzona, Parma, Napoli, Piacenza, Empoli, Messina, Chievo, Palermo, Juventus, Fiorentin ...

move to Juventus, while Antonio Nocerino also transferred outright to Palermo . After a disappointing time with Palermo during the first half of the

2008–09 Serie A The 2008–09 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 107th season of top-tier Italian football, the 77th in a round-robin tournament. It began on 30 August 2008 and ended on 31 May 2009, with the announcement of the ...

season, where Lanzafame saw little playing time and no first team action, co-owners, Juventus, ensured that a loan deal was executed, also wanting their youth product to remain in

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 ...

. On 26 December 2008, he moved from

on loan for the remainder of the season. Lanzafame underwent a second successful spell with A.S. Bari, making 18 league appearances and scoring two goals. Following his second return from

, Lanzafame returned to

, only to be loaned out to

side, F.C. Parma. In his first full season of Serie A football, Lanzafame impressed, scoring seven goals in 27 league matches. He also scored against his parent club in a 3–2 win for Parma over Juventus on 9 May 2010.

Return to Juventus

On 25 June 2010, Palermo and Juventus agreed to extend the co-ownership deal for another year, with the Sicilian club loaning the player to the ''Bianconeri'' for the 2010–11 season. Lanzafame was expected to be a part of the building project of the new Juventus management, however, after just three league appearances in 5 months for Juventus, he was loaned to

Brescia Calcio Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy. The team currently plays in Serie B, the second tier of Italian football, but will play in Serie C in 2025–26 due to financial contro ...

for the remainder of the

2010–11 Serie A The 2010–11 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 109th season of top-tier Italian football, the 79th in a round-robin tournament, and the 1st since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B ...

season. Lanzafame made 13 appearances with Brescia, but failed to score. At the end of the season, he returned to Palermo. Following his second comeback to Palermo in June 2011, his co-ownership was resolved in favour of the ''Rosanero'' for free.

Catania

On 10 August 2011, Palermo confirmed to have sold Lanzafame to

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

on a co-ownership basis, for €1 million,Calcio Catania S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2012
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
/ref> as part of the deal that saw Matías Silvestre move in the opposite direction. Lanzafame was officially presented on 12 August 2011, alongside Mario Paglialunga and

David Suazo Óscar David Suazo Velázquez (born 5 November 1979) is a Honduran retired professional footballer turned coach who played as a striker. Suazo played more than 300 league games and scored over 90 league goals in Italy during a span of 12 season ...

. Upon joining his maternal descent-based club, Lanzafame made just 11 appearances and scored 1 goal during the 2011-12 Serie A season. In June 2012 Catania acquired him outright for free. Lanzafame was successively loaned to Serie B side

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

on 9 September 2012. He was a mainstay in the club's lineup, appearing in 16 matches and scoring 2 league goals during the first half of the

2012–13 Serie B The 2012–13 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) is the 81st season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams will contest the league: 16 of which returning from the 2011–12 season, 4 of which promoted from Le ...

season, before returning to Catania in January 2013. He was then immediately loaned out to Hungarian outfit, Budapest Honvéd at the request of coach Marco Rossi. At the club, Lanzafame teamed up with former Juventus youth teammate Raffaele Alcibiade.

Match-fixing scandal

When Budapest Honvéd learned that Lanzafame had been accused of manipulating matches during his time with

by FIGC, they terminated his loan deal, which would have run until 30 June, a month in advance. Lanzafame had scored five league goals in ten matches for the club before returning to Sicily. Upon returning to Catania, Lanzafame's fate regarding the match-fixing was officially learned on 5 July 2013. Prosecutor Stefano Palazzi had requested a four-year ban; however, Lanzafame saw his plea bargain accepted and will be suspended for 16 months with a €40,000 fine.

Perugia

On 12 August 2014, Lanzafame signed with Serie B club

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, joining Marco Rossi who also involved in the aforementioned scandal. The contract of Lanzafame was extended on 13 March 2015, which would last until 30 June 2017.

Budapest Honvéd

In 2016, Lanzafame returned to

Budapest Honvéd FC Budapest Honvéd Football Club (), commonly known as Budapest Honvéd or simply Honvéd, is a Hungarian sports club based in Kispest, Budapest, with the colours of red and black. The club is best known for its football team. ''Honvéd'' means ...

and won the

2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, also known as NB I, is the 118th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league is officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. Ferencvárosi TC (football), Ferencváros were the defending ch ...

season with the club. He scored his first goal in the

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 ...

in the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

season against

Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was established in 1949, and since 2007 it ...

at the Turner Stadium. He became the top scorer of the

2017–18 Nemzeti Bajnokság I The 2017–18 Nemzeti Bajnokság I (also known as 2017–18 OTP Bank Liga), also known as NB I, was the 119th season of top-tier football in Hungary. The league was officially named ''OTP Bank Liga'' for sponsorship reasons. Budapest Honvéd FC, ...

season by scoring 18 goals. Before the last round, there were three players with 17 goals ( Roland Varga of

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

, and Soma Novothny of

Újpest Újpest (; , ) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary in 1838. Újpest was a village ...

). However, none of the three players scored goals in the 33rd round, except for Lanzafame who scored a free-kick goal against

Vasas SC Vasas SC () is a Hungarian sports club based in Budapest. Members of the ''Hungarian Union of Iron Workers'' founded the club as ''Vas- és Fémmunkások Sport Clubja'', the "Sport Club of Iron and Metal Workers", on 16 March 1911. The club ...

Ferencváros

On 1 July 2018, Lanzafame was signed by

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

club

. In an interview with the

Nemzeti Sport ''Nemzeti Sport'' (, ) is a Hungarian sports daily. History and profile ''Nemzeti Sport'' was founded in 1903. It is frequently cited by quality English-language media The paper is published in broadsheet format. Between the World War I and Worl ...

, he said that he made his most difficult decision in his career so far after signing with Ferencváros.

Budapest Honvéd

On 12 August 2019, Lanzafame was returned for the third time to

club

Adana Demirspor

On 25 September 2020, Lanzafame was join to club

Adana Demirspor Adana Demirspor Kulübü is a multi-sports club based in Adana, Turkey. The football department is the most popular department which relegated to TFF 1. Lig on 16 March 2025 after 4 seasons at the Super Lig. Founded by railway workers of Turk ...

Vicenza

On 1 February 2021, Lanzafame signed with Italian club

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

on a free transfer. On 22 January 2022, his contract with Vicenza was terminated by mutual consent after he missed most of the season up to that point due to injury.

Managerial career

In 2022, Lanzafame took on his first head coaching job, being named in charge of Hungary amateur club Pestszentimré, a position he left by the end of the year. In May 2023, Lanzafame returned to Italy, accepting a head coaching job at

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

Piedmont amateurs Borgaro.

Career statistics

Honours

Budapest Honvéd *

: 2016–17 *

Hungarian Cup The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

: 2019–20 Ferencváros *

: 2018–19 Individual * Nemzeti Bajnokság I top scorer: 2017–18, 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanzafame, Davide 1987 births Living people Footballers from Turin Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards Juventus FC players SSC Bari players Palermo FC players Parma Calcio 1913 players Brescia Calcio players Catania FC players US Grosseto 1912 players Budapest Honvéd FC players AC Perugia Calcio players Novara FC players Ferencvárosi TC footballers Adana Demirspor footballers LR Vicenza players Serie A players Serie B players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players TFF 1. Lig players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Italian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey People of Sicilian descent 21st-century Italian sportsmen