Alessandro Gazzi (born 28 January 1983) is an Italian former 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 played as a

defensive 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. ...

. He became an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honor usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of the city of

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...

on 27 May 2007.

Club career

Early career

He began his footballing career at Plavis, the youth team of his region,

Santa Giustina Santa Giustina is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Belluno in the Italian region of Veneto, located about northwest of Venice and about southwest of Belluno. Santa Giustina borders the following municipalities: Cesiomaggiore, L ...

. He then transferred to

Montebelluna Montebelluna is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, Italy, approximately northwest of Venice. It has an estimated population of 31,000. Montebelluna borders the following municipalities: Altivole, Caerano di San Marco, Cornuda, Crocetta del Montello ...

and immediately after to

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

, with whom he debuted in the

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 ...

season of 2000–01, at age 17. In the summer of 2001 he officially joined

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

on a two-year loan, and was given a place in the youth team. He played for the youth team for two seasons, but never played for the first team, and in 2003 returned to Treviso at the end of the loan.

Viterbese

In August 2003 he was sold outright to Viterbese, at the time led by former coach of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Guido Carboni Guido Carboni (born 27 January 1963) is an Italian football manager most recently in charge of Olbia and a former player, who played as a forward. He is the brother of former Italian international footballer Amedeo Carboni, who also played for Sa ...

. He was a regular starter for the side, contesting 31 games scoring a goal. He played four games in the promotion play-offs to

, which Viterbo lost in the final against

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

. At the end of the season the club was declared bankrupt, and Gazzi and all the players on the team were released on a free transfer.

Bari and Reggina

In July 2004 he moved definitively to Bari in

, along with his coach and teammates Vincenzo Santoruvo and Lorenzo Sibilano. In his first season in

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

, he played 34 games and scored 3 goals, contributing to the final placement of 10th in the league standing. The following year he took to the field 35 times, scoring 1 goal. On 4 January, he signed an extension until 2009. In the following season he played 11 games, but on the last day of the winter transfer market was sold to

Reggina Associazione Sportiva Reggina 1914, commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. They play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo and are currently playing in the Serie D league. ...

in co-ownership, where for the first time in his career he had the opportunity to play 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 ...

. He made his debut in the top flight on 11 February 2007 in a win against Torino, and played 9 games until the end of the season. Thanks to his contribution, the team, then led by

Walter Mazzarri Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several smaller Italian sides and in 2007 ...

, attains salvation in spite of an 11-point deduction due to the

2006 Italian football scandal ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A, and to a lesser extent, Serie B. The scandal centered on the manipulation of referee appointments to favor certain clubs during the 2004-0 ...

. Gazzi was awarded, together with his companions, the title of honorary citizen of

Return to Bari

On 22 June 2007 the co-ownership agreement was resolved in favor of

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 ...

, and the player returned to Apulia. On 22 September, during a game against

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, he suffered an eye injury which forced him into hospital and resulted in two weeks on the sideline. On 21 November, he extended his contract with Bari until 2011. In the 2008–09 season, with 39 appearances, Gazzi was one of the most active players in the promotion of Bari into

, coached by

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 ...

. The following year he was a fixture of the team led by

Giampiero Ventura Gian Piero Ventura (; born 14 January 1948) is an Italian football manager. His playing career as a midfielder was spent in the lower leagues, having not made the grade at Sampdoria, where he began his coaching career with the youth team in 197 ...

, playing 32 games in the top flight. On 7 April 2010 he signed a further contract extension until 2013, and during 2011–2012, despite relegation, he was again an impressive player, with 31 games played. On 10 April 2011 he scored his first goal in Serie A against

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 ...

Siena

After the relegation of Bari in Serie B, there were rumours of a possible transfer to

Chievo Verona 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' ...

and especially

Torino 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 ...

, but on 11 August 2011 a transfer was formalised to

Sienna Sienna () is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown, and it is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown, and it is called burnt sienna.''Shorter Oxford English ...

, newly promoted to

. The anchor of the midfield, made his debut under Giuseppe Sannino on 11 September against Catania and scored his first goal for the ''bianconeri'' 20 November, in a home game against

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 ...

. He played 33 games for the club, scoring 1 goal.

Torino

On 13 July 2012 Gazzi was sold to

for €2.5 million cash, plus

Matteo Rubin Matteo Rubin (born 9 July 1987) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender for club Campodarsego. Club career Early career & Torino Matteo Rubin signed his first professional footballing contract for Serie C1 team Cittadella before sig ...

to Sienna in co-ownership. He officially debuted for Torino on 18 August 2012, in a

Coppa Italia 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 ...

fixture against

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

; his league debut for the ''Granata'' was on 26 August, against his former club, Siena. He scored his first goal for Torino on 30 September in a 1–5 win away against

. He concluded the 2012–13 season with 34 appearances and 2 goals - plus an appearance in Coppa Italia. On 28 August 2014 he made his debut in European competition in a 1–0 defeat of

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Split, Croatia, Split, that competes in the Croatian First Football League, Cro ...

. In February 2015 he renewed his contract with the club until the end of the 2015–16 season.

Palermo

On 3 August 2016,

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 the signing of Gazzi from Torino. Upon signing for the club, he was handed the number 14 shirt.

Alessandria

On 2 August 2017, signed a two years deal with

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

. In the summer of 2018, his contract was renewed until June 2020.

2011–12 Italian football scandal

In the month of August 2012, he was investigated by prosecutors in

for sporting fraud, along with his other former teammates at A.S. Bari, in regard to match-fixing in the past. On 6 June 2013, he was suspended for 3 months and 10 days, plus a fine of €40,000.

Style of play

Although he is capable of playing in several

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

positions, Gazzi is usually deployed as a central or

, due to his work-rate, ball-winning abilities, as well as capacity to organise his team and distribute the ball to team-mates after winning back possession, despite his lack of notable technical skills. Known for his professionalism and consistency, he is a tenacious player of great physicality and determination, who possesses a strong left foot.

Career statistics

Club

''Updated 31 May 2015''.

Honours

Club

;Bari *

: 2008–09

References

External links

*
Profile of Alessandro Gazzi on Torinofc.it
* http://www.gazzetta.it/speciali/serie_b/2008_nw/giocatori/57128.shtml {{DEFAULTSORT:Gazzi, Alessandro 1983 births Footballers from the Province of Belluno Living people Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Treviso FBC 1993 players SS Lazio players US Viterbese 1908 players SSC Bari players AS Reggina 1914 players Siena FC SSD players Torino FC players Palermo FC players US Alessandria Calcio 1912 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players 21st-century Italian sportsmen