Federico Barba (born 1 September 1993) is an Italian

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 for

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Biography

Youth career

Born in Rome, Italy, Barba was a six-year-old boy when began to play at the Axa Soccer School. Playing as a left or central defender, in 2007 he was sold to Cisco Roma (former Lodigiani), the third most popular soccer team in Rome, and at the age of 15 he was transferred to

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

where he played in the youth teams, coached, at first, by Andrea Stramaccioni and then by

Alberto De Rossi Alberto de Rossi (born 9 September 1957) is an Italian football manager and former player. Serving between 2003 and 2022, he is the longest lasting manager in the history of Roma's U19 side. Career He made his senior debut at 16 for Ostia ...

. Barba won U17 national championship with Roma in 2010.; U20 "Primavera" reserve league in 2011 and

Coppa Italia Primavera The Coppa Italia Primavera (Italian for Spring Italian Cup) is an Italian football competition played by youth teams from Campionato Primavera. All players are under 20 of age. The first edition was held in the 1972–73 season. Due to sponsorshi ...

in 2012. In 2012, Federico Barba got the Italian award as the best young defender.

Grosseto

In July 2012 he was loaned to Serie B club

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 ...

, partially due to the age restriction of Primavera had changed to U19 and partially by Barba had ready for professional league. Barba made his debut as starting defender in

2012–13 Coppa Italia The 2012–13 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 66th edition of the domestic competition. As in the previous year, 78 clubs have taken part in the tournament. Napoli were the cup holders. Lazio were the winners, ...

. In

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 ...

, Barba made successive appearances since from 20 October 2012, becoming the regular central defender of Grosseto team. In June 2013, Grosseto acquired half of the registration rights of Barba for €200,000. However, Roma re-acquired Barba for €350,000 and re-sold him to Empoli.

Empoli

In August 2013, Barba was acquired by

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 ...

for €250,000 in another co-ownership deal. In June 2015 Empoli acquired the remain 50% registration rights from Roma for an undisclosed fee. He also has scored 2 goals for the club.

VfB Stuttgart

On 1 February 2016, Barba was loaned out to

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

until the end of the season with an option of purchase.

Sporting Gijón

In July 2017, Barba was acquired by Spanish club

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

for a reported €1 million fee.

ChievoVerona

On 14 August 2018, Barba signed with

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 ...

side

ChievoVerona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo (, ), is an Italian football club named after and representing Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto. It is owned since 2024 by the team' ...

Valladolid (loan)

On 6 July 2019, he returned to Spain after agreeing to a one-year loan deal with

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 ...

side

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

Benevento

On 24 January 2020, Barba joined

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 ...

team

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

on loan until 30 June 2020. Benevento held an obligation to purchase his rights at the end of the loan term. Barba signed a 3.5-year contract with Benevento with an additional one-year extension option.

Pisa

On 2 September 2022, Barba signed a three-season contract with

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

Como

On 2 August 2023, Barba joined

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

on a three-year deal.

Sion

On 16 January 2025, Barba moved to

in Switzerland on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

International career

Barba made his debut in the third match of 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualification. In the elite qualification, he played twice as the holder of number 2 shirt. He played the first game after

Rodrigo Ely Rodrigo Ely (born 3 November 1993) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Grêmio. Club career Milan Rodrigo Ely is a youth product of Brazilian club, Grêmio, and joined Milan in 2012. He spent two years ...

was sent off, which Barba substituted forward Mattia Valoti. Due to Ely suspension, Barba played the second match but not the third match. Barba received U20 call-up from

Luigi Di Biagio Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is currently managing Saudi Arabia U23. A former midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli in 2007, and previously also played for seve ...

in summer 2012. In November, he received call-up from

Devis Mangia Devis Mangia (; born 6 June 1974) is an Italian professional association football, football manager (association football), manager. Managerial career Early years Mangia started his coaching career at age 30, working alongside Sean Sogliano at ...

for

Italy national under-21 football team The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 Association football, football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two ...

against

Spain national under-21 football team The Spain national under-21 football team is the national under-21 Association football, football team of Spain and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The team, nicknamed La Rojita (The Little Red), competes in the biennial U ...

. However, he did not play that match.

Career statistics

References

External links

FIGC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barba, Federico 1993 births Living people Footballers from Rome Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players La Liga players Segunda División players AS Roma players US Grosseto 1912 players Empoli FC players AC ChievoVerona players Bundesliga players VfB Stuttgart players Sporting de Gijón players Real Valladolid players Benevento Calcio players Pisa SC players Como 1907 players FC Sion players Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland 21st-century Italian sportsmen