Francesco Bolzoni (born 7 May 1989) 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 ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Swiss club

Rapperswil-Jona Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, ...

that competes in the third-tier

Swiss Promotion League The Promotion League, named the YAPEAL Promotion League for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Swiss football league system. Eighteen clubs compete in the league, playing each other twice over the course of the season. The champions ar ...

. He is a former Italy U21 international.

Club career

Internazionale

Bolzoni started out at

San Colombano al Lambro San Colombano al Lambro ( Lodigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan. San Colombano al Lambro borders the following municipalities: Borghetto ...

before joining Inter's academy. Bolzoni has played for every academy team from the ''Esordienti (under-13)'' to the '' Primavera (under-20)''. During the season 2006–2007, Bolzoni was part of the winning side, when the reserve won the

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 t ...

(under-20 Italian Championship). He made his first-team debut on 1 February 2007, playing 26 minutes of

2006–07 Coppa Italia The 2006–07 Coppa Italia was the 60th edition of the tournament. The final was played, like the two previous editions, between Internazionale and Roma. The first match was played in Rome on 9 May 2007, and the second leg in Milan on 17 May 200 ...

) semi-final return leg against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

at the

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums i ...

. On 19 September 2007, Bolzoni, along with Esposito and Puccio, was selected for the first time in the 20-men squad for the

2006–07 UEFA Champions League The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Mila ...

match against Fenerbahçe. However, he failed to make his debut in the UEFA Champions League, on that day. In the following match against

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, wh ...

he came on as a substitute for

Santiago Solari Santiago Hernán Solari Poggio (born 7 October 1976) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who played as a left midfielder. He spent the better part of his 16-year professional career in Spain, amassing La Liga total ...

in the 70th minute, making his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

appearance. On 12 December, during an away match against PSV Eindhoven, Bolzoni started his first UEFA Champions League match, and also played the whole 90 minutes. The game ended in 1–0 win for Internazionale. Bolzoni renewed his contract with the club until 30 June 2012 in 2008. On 24 May 2009, in a match against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitan ...

he made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

debut for Inter coming in as substitute for

Cristian Chivu Cristian Eugen Chivu (; born 26 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Inter Milan's under-19 side. A defender, he began his career with hometown club CSM Reșița before moving t ...

Genoa

In July 2009, it was announced that Bolzoni had signed for

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

along with

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the ...

for €3M each as part of the deal that saw

Thiago Motta Thiago Motta (; ; born 28 August 1982) is a professional Association football, football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of club Bologna F.C. 1909, Bologna. A midfielder, Motta spent his early career at FC Barcelona, ...

sign for

Internazionale 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 football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

for €10 million.Genoa CFC Report and Accounts on 31 December 2009 In August 2009, he was loaned to

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

for €200,000.

Siena

In July 2010,

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

signed Bolzoni on loan for €400,000 with an

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to acquire 50% of his economic rights, fact that occurred on 22 June 2011, for €1,050,000.AC Siena Report and Accounts on 30 June 2011 On 23 June 2012 Siena bought him outright for another €425,000.

Palermo

On 31 July 2013, Bolzoni left Siena's pre-season camp and completed the transfer to

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

on the next day, for €1 million in a 4-year contract.

Novara

On 1 February 2016, he was signed by

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

on a free transfer.

Spezia

On 31 August 2017 Bolzoni joined fellow Serie B club

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) 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 ...

, with

Daniele Sciaudone Daniele Sciaudone (born 10 August 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie D club Fidelis Andria. Club career Born in Bergamo, Sciaudone finished his youth formation with local Tritium, making his senior de ...

moved to opposite direction. Bolzoni was assigned number 7 shirt.

Bari

In September 2018, Bolzoni joined newly refounded

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

club Bari as a free transfer.

Loan to Imolese

On 2 September 2019, he joined

Serie C The Serie C () 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 body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega ...

club Imolese on loan.

Loan to Lecco

On 15 January 2020 he moved to

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco'') ...

. The loan was extended for the 2020–21 season on 1 September 2020.

Return to Bari

Upon his return from loan, Bolzoni did not make any appearances for Bari in the first half of the 2021–22 season, and on 26 January 2022 his contract with the club was terminated by mutual consent.

Rapperswil-Jona

On 28 July 2022, Bolzoni signed with

in the third-tier

International career

On 5 October 2007, Pierluigi Casiraghi called up Bolzoni, although still 18 years old, to form part of the Italy U-21 national team for the matches against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. On 21 November 2007, he made his debut for the Italy U-21 national team, in a

qualification match Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

against

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic archipelago, island group and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotlan ...

but did not make the final 23-man squad for the

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

Honours

Inter Youth team *

(Under-20 Italian Championship) ** Winner : 2006–07 ** Runner-up : 2007–08 *

Torneo di Viareggio The Torneo di Viareggio ( en, Viareggio Tournament), officially named the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale, is a youth association football tournament held annually in the commune of Viareggio, Italy and its surrounding area ...

** Winner : 2008

References

External links

*
Francesco Bolzoni Profile
a
www.palermocalcio.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolzoni, Francesco 1989 births People from Lodi, Lombardy Sportspeople from the Province of Lodi Footballers from Lombardy Living people Italian footballers Association football midfielders Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Inter Milan players Frosinone Calcio players A.C.N. Siena 1904 players Palermo F.C. players Novara F.C. players Spezia Calcio players S.S.C. Bari players Imolese Calcio 1919 players Calcio Lecco 1912 players FC Rapperswil-Jona players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Swiss 1. Liga (football) players Swiss Promotion League players Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland