Desiderio Michele Garufo (born 22 April 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays for

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

club

Akragas Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonisation, Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading citie ...

Biography

Born in

Grotte, Sicily Grotte ( Sicilian: ''Grutti'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northeast of Agrigento. Grotte borders the following municipalities: Aragona, ...

, Garufo started his career at Nissa. He won

Eccellenza Sicily Eccellenza Sicily () is the regional Italian Eccellenza football division for clubs in Sicily. It is competed among 32 teams in two groups (A and B). The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The clubs that finish second also have the c ...

with team in 2008 (Italian sixth level until 2014). Garufo scored 10 goals in

2008–09 Serie D Serie D, the fifth level of Italian Football, is usually composed of 162 teams divided into nine 18-team divisions. Special relegation of four teams from the professional leagues above Serie D after the team list had been set increased the total n ...

, Italian fifth level and top level of amateur football. In 2009 Garufo was signed by Lega Pro 2nd Division club Sangiovannese (Italian fourth level). The club was the losing side of the promotion playoffs. Garufo was a substitute and starting right midfielder in 4-3-2-1 formation respectively.

Taranto

Garufo moved to Italian third level for

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

in 2010. The club entered the promotion playoffs, losing to Atletico Roma. Garufo was the wingback in the 3-4-3 formation in the first leg. Garufo remained for the club for 2011–12 season. However the club folded despite finished as the losing side of promotion playoffs again.

Nocerina

On 3 July 2012, he was signed by another third division club Nocerina. The club also finished as the losing side of promotion playoffs of 2012–13 L.P. Prime Div. season. Garufo was the right-back and right midfielder respectively in 4-3-3 formation in the first and second legs.

Trapani

On 1 July 2013, Garufo was signed by

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 ...

club

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

on a free transfer. He wore the number 2 shirt. Garufo made his competitive debut for the club in

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

as right-back.

Novara

On 1 August 2014, Garufo was signed by Lega Pro club

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

in a two-year contract. After the club promoted to Serie B, Garufo wore the number 17 shirt, the traditional back luck number. He did not play in the opening match of

2015–16 Serie B The 2015–16 Serie B (known as the Serie B ConTe.it for sponsorship reasons) was the 84th season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 16 returning from the 2014–15 season, 4 promoted from Lega Pro, and 2 ...

. On 16 September he was sold back to Lega Pro, the third division of Italian football pyramid.

Catania

On 16 September 2015, Garufo and Bergamelli were sold 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 ...

in two-year contracts. He played 23 games for the club in Lega Pro C, contributing with 4 assists. He also featured in one game in the

Parma

On 13 July 2016, Garufo was signed on a free transfer by

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in a two-year contract. He was assigned the number 15 shirt. He made his debut on 7 August 2016 in a

Coppa Italia Lega Pro Coppa Italia Serie C (), formerly named Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is a straight knock-out based competition involving teams from Serie C in Italian football first held in 1972. Format There are a total of six rounds in the competition. It begins i ...

game against

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, playing as a right midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation.

Trapani

On 29 August 2018, he re-joined

on a free transfer.

Reggina

On 21 August 2019, he signed a one-year contract with Reggina.

Catanzaro

On 29 September 2020, he moved to

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, 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 ...

club

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), also known as the "City of the two Seas" (), is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

. Catanzaro reported the transfer as a loan, while Reggina reported a permanent transfer.

Canicattì

On 8 October 2021, he joined an amateur side Canicattì.

References

External links

AIC profile (data by football.it)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garufo, Desiderio 1987 births Living people People from Grotte, Sicily Sportspeople from the Province of Agrigento Footballers from Sicily Italian men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks ASD Sangiovannese 1927 players Taranto FC 1927 players ASG Nocerina players FC Trapani 1905 players Novara FC players Catania FC players Parma Calcio 1913 players AS Reggina 1914 players US Catanzaro 1929 players ASD Akragas 2018 players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Eccellenza players 21st-century Italian sportsmen