Ivan Francesco De Santis (born 21 May 1997) is an Italian 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 ...

who plays as a defender for club Fermana on loan from

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino dialect, Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an ...

. A centre-back, he made his professional debut on 2 November 2016, for Catania.

Career

Early career

De Santis was born in the Apulian town of

Conversano Conversano ( Barese: ) is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. It is southeast of Bari and from the Adriatic coast, at above sea level. The counts of Conversano owned a stud that the ...

, but began his career in Lombardy in the youth teams of

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 ...

giants

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

. His progression through the youth teams was rapid, and he became a starter for the

Primavera Primavera or La Primavera means the season spring in many Romance languages, and it may also refer to: Geography * Primavera, Chile * La Primavera, Vichada, a municipality in Colombia * La Primavera District, Bolognesi, Peru * La Primavera Biosph ...

side aged just 16. Despite playing against opponents often two years older than himself, De Santis impressed coaches whilst playing in 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 ...

and

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Leagu ...

, and made over 60 appearances for the Primavera side in total.

Loan moves

De Santis was sent on loan to

Lega Pro 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 Pro ...

side Catania at the beginning of the 2016–17 season. Here, however, De Santis received little game time and made just three appearances. Due to this lack of playing time, Milan recalled De Santis early, in January 2017, in order to loan him out again. He signed a six-month loan contract with Paganese, also of Lega Pro, on 27 January 2017.

Ascoli

On 8 January 2019, he joined

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . History 1914: Foundation The club was founded in 1914 as Foot-Ball Clu ...

on loan with an option to purchase.

Virtus Entella

He moved to Virtus permanently on 23 August 2019.

Loan to Cesena

On 20 January 2020, 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

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and '' comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Loan to Modena

On 14 January 2021, he was loaned to

club

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

Loan to Monopoli

On 31 August 2021 he moved to

Monopoli Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,2 ...

on loan with an obligation to buy.

Loan to Paganese

On 28 January 2022, he joined Paganese on a sub-loan from Monopoli.

Taranto

On 20 July 2023, De Santis signed a two-year contract with

. On 26 January 2024, he was loaned by Fermana.

National team

De Santis has played for every age category for Italy from under-15 to under-19, and also received a call-up to the under-20 side in September 2016 for the Under-20 Four Nations Tournament, after

Fabio Della Giovanna Fabio Della Giovanna (born 21 March 1997) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Pro Sesto. Club career Inter Milan On 15 May 2016, Della Giovanna made his senior debut against Sassuolo as a substitute for ...

was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Career statistics

Club

''Updated 1 January 2018''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Santis, Ivan 1997 births Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Bari Living people Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Italy men's youth international footballers AC Milan players Catania FC players Paganese Calcio 1926 players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Virtus Entella players Cesena FC players Modena FC 2018 players SS Monopoli 1966 players Taranto FC 1927 players Fermana FC players Serie B players Serie C players