Giuseppe Bellusci
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Giuseppe Bellusci (born 21 August 1989) is an Italian professional
football player 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
centre-back 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 ...
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 Recanatese. A former Italy under-21 international, Bellusci was nicknamed "The Warrior" by
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 ...
fans.


Club career


Leeds United


2014–15 season

On 12 August 2014, Bellusci signed a one-year loan deal with the option of a permanent deal with English club
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
. His debut was delayed due to the Italian bank holiday
Ferragosto ''Ferragosto'' is a public holiday celebrated on 15 August in all of Italy. It originates from ''Feriae Augusti'', the festival of Augustus, Emperor Augustus, who made 1 August a day of rest after weeks of hard work on the agricultural sector. ...
on 15 August, leading to international clearance not arriving in time for the following day's fixture against
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
. On 21 August 2014, Bellusci signed a permanent deal with Leeds United until June 2018, for a fee of around £1.6 million. On 23 August, Bellusci made his Leeds debut against
Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...
in a 4–1 defeat at Vicarage Road, with Bellusci giving away a penalty and earning a straight red card. Bellusci made his home debut at
Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
, on his return from suspension on 30 August, against
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
. He scored his first goal in England on 16 September 2014 with a free-kick against
Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
in a 3–1 win. On 4 October, Bellusci equalised with a left-footed volley in a 1–1 draw against
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
. On 22 December, Bellusci was charged by The FA on an allegation of using racist language towards
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
striker Cameron Jerome during the teams' 1–1 draw on 21 October; Bellusci and Leeds United denied the allegations. On 7 February 2015, at an FA hearing, Bellusci was found 'not guilty', as he had threatened Jerome in Italian to give him a black eye, with the word ''nero'' being misheard. On 20 January, Bellusci was given a straight red card when he gave away a penalty against Bournemouth, however pictures showed the foul to be outside the box, Bournemouth striker
Yann Kermorgant Yann Alain Kermorgant (born 8 November 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. Club career Early career Born in Vannes, Morbihan, Kermorgant began his career with the Stade Rennais Youth Academy, but aged 14 ...
missed the resulting penalty to earn Leeds a 1–0 victory. The red card was Bellusci's second red card of the season which resulted in an automatic two-match ban. On 18 April 2015, Bellusci was one of six Massimo Cellino signings (alongside Mirco Antenucci, Marco Silvestri, Souleymane Doukara, Dario Del Fabro, Edgar Çani) who controversially pulled out of the squad with an 'injury' the day before a 2–1 loss against Charlton Athletic. On 2 May 2015, Bellusci's free-kick against Bournemouth was nominated for Leeds United's goal of the season at the official end of 2014–15 season awards ceremony, but lost out to eventual winner Rudy Austin's volleyed goal against Watford.


2015–16 season

On 2 July 2015, Bellusci's agent Silvio Pagliari revealed that Bellusci and Antenucci would be staying at Leeds and that owner Massimo Cellino said both players were going to be important players for the 2015–16 season. On 27 September 2015, Bellusci scored an own goal for Leeds in a 3–0 defeat to Middlesbrough at the Riverside. On 7 January 2016, Leeds manager Steve Evans revealed that the club had rejected two bids from overseas sides for Bellusci and that he wanted to keep him at the club. Bellusci's costly error against Rotherham United led to a red card for goalkeeper Marco Silvestri and resulted in Bellusci playing the rest of the match in goal for Leeds, with Evans' side out of substitutions, Bellusci was also unable to save the resulting penalty in a 2–1 defeat. In the following game, Bellusci gave away an injury time penalty which was converted by
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
player Tjaronn Chery. After a series of high-profile mistakes throughout the season and unrest with the crowd, Bellusci was dropped from the squad by head coach Steve Evans after walking out of the training ground after learning he was due to be a substitute in the match against Hull City on 23 April. Bellusci also took to Twitter to post statistics as to argue the Leeds defence was more solid with him in the team rather than his other teammates. Bellusci remained absent from the final three Leeds squads of the 2015–16 season named by Steve Evans.


Loan to Empoli

On 1 July 2016, with Bellusci missing the beginning of pre-season for Leeds United for 'personal reasons', he returned to Italy, joining Serie A side
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 ...
on loan for the 2016/17 season with the option of a permanent deal. He made his Empoli debut against Udinese on 28 August in a 2–0 defeat. On 12 September, Bellusci scored the winner for Empoli in their Serie A game 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 ...
in a 2–1 victory. Empoli were relegated to
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 ...
with Bellusci playing 33 games for the side.


Return to Leeds

On 6 June 2017, with Leeds United beginning pre-season under new head coach Thomas Christiansen, it was announced that Bellusci was seeking a transfer away from Leeds and would not return to the club for the start of pre-season after being granted extra leave to find a new club. On 5 July, after being unable to find a new club, Bellusci returned to the side and played for Leeds in their first pre-season friendly in a 4–2 win against Harrogate Town. On 8 July 2017, Bellusci was booed by the travelling Leeds fans in their 5–1 pre-season victory over
Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is an area in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-west ...
, after being substituted at half time, Bellusci was embroiled in an argument when walking past the Leeds support who were chanting him to leave the club. Bellusci later tweeted "Fortunately in this world we have the children to set an example to the adults!" After new head coach Thomas Christiansen revealed Bellusci would not be part of his plans, on 18 July 2017, Leeds announced the termination of Bellusci's contract by mutual consent.


Palermo

On 30 July 2017, Bellusci signed for
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 ...
side
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 ...
signing a 3-year contract with the club.


Monza

Following Palermo's bankruptcy, on 25 July 2019 he signed a 3-year contract with
Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...
.


Ascoli

On 4 January 2022, Bellusci was loaned out to Ascoli for six months. He joined them on a permanent deal on 10 July.


International career

On 25 March 2009, he made his debut with the Italy U21 team in a
friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...
against
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
. Bellusci played with future
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
internationals such as
Mario Balotelli Mario Balotelli Barwuah (; ''Birth name, né'' Barwuah; born 12 August 1990) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Genoa CFC, Genoa. Balotelli started his ...
and Andrea Ranocchia during his time with the under-21 team.


Career statistics


Club


Honours

Monza *
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 ...
Group A: 2019–20


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellusci, Giuseppe 1989 births Living people People from Trebisacce Footballers from the Province of Cosenza Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Catania FC players Leeds United F.C. players Empoli FC players Palermo FC players AC Monza players US Recanatese players Serie A players English Football League players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers 21st-century Italian sportsmen