Luca Caldirola (born 1 February 1991) 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender. Mainly 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 ...

, he can also play as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Inter Milan

2009–10 season

Caldirola started his career at

Inter Milan 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 Association football, football List of football ...

, where he was the team captain at under-20 level (''Primavera'') and was occasionally called up to join the first team during the 2009–10 season, without making any appearances, however, on the pitch. Caldirola also played for various youth teams in

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

as goalkeeper and midfielder before joined Inter at the age of eight. He played in a friendly match for the Inter first team in 2009.

2010–11 season

On 29 June 2010, Inter loaned out Caldirola to Dutch club

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

of the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

for the entire 2010–11 season; he is the second Italian player to be part of the

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

club, after

Marco De Marchi Marco Antonio De Marchi (born 8 September 1966) is an Italian association football agent and former defender, who played as a centre-back. Career Born in Milan, De Marchi started his career with the Como youth system, and was successively so ...

. Inter also reduced the age limit of its ''Primavera'' team to under-19 in 2010, keeping only three players born in 1991 in the 2010–11 season as back-ups for the first team. Half of the registration rights of Caldirola — and

Luca Garritano Luca Garritano (born 11 February 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or left winger for club Cosenza. Club career Inter Born in Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy, Garritano played for Inter Milan from their ''g ...

— were sold to

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

as part of the deal that brought defender

Yuto Nagatomo Yuto may refer to: *Yūto, a masculine Japanese given name *Yūtō, Shizuoka, a former town in Hamana District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Yuto, Jujuy, a city in Jujuy Province, Argentina *Yutō, a wooden container used for serving hot liquids, as ...

to the

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

in June 2011, after a successful loan. Half of the registration rights of Caldirola was valued €2.5 million; Caldirola signed a four-year contract. Both Caldirola and Garritano returned to Inter in a temporary deal for the 2011–12 season.

2011–12 season

On 7 December 2011, Caldirola made his first team debut for Inter in a

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group stage 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 ...

match against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

which ended in a 2–1 loss at

. On 4 January 2012, Inter confirmed that Caldirola signed a loan deal until the end of the season with 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 ...

outfit

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

2012–13 season

In June 2012, the co-ownership deal was renewed and Caldirola reported to Cesena in pre-season on 10 July 2012, where he played the first half of the season for the

Romagna Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

club before again being loaned to Brescia in January 2013, where he finished the campaign with 15 league appearances. In June 2013 Inter bought back Caldirola for €2.5 million, with Riccardo Melgrati and Thomas Pedrabissi moved to Cesena outright for €750,000 and €1 million respectively; Cesena also signed Yago Del Piero in co-ownership deal for €250,000, thus the deals only involves €500,000 cash to Cesena.

Werder Bremen

On 26 June 2013,

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

confirmed the signing of Luca Caldirola from Inter on a four-year contract, for a €2.5 million transfer fee. He missed most of the 2016–17 season due to injuries. With his contract running out at the end of the month, he agreed to a two-year contract extension on 15 June 2017. After an envisaged transfer away from the club did not materialise in summer 2018, Caldirola trained with Werder Bremen's reserves in the first half of the 2018–19 season.

Darmstadt 98 (loan)

On 15 July 2015, Caldirola was loaned out for a season to

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German professional association football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was bri ...

Benevento

On 30 January 2019, Caldirola joined Italian

side

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 a free transfer, returning to Italy after five years.

Monza

On 17 July 2021, Caldirola moved to

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 ...

in the Serie B on a two-year contract.

International career

Caldirola has represented his native country of Italy at all youth levels, from under-16 to under-20. On 17 November 2010, he made his debut with the Italy under-21 team in a friendly match against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in a 2–1 victory played in

Fermo Fermo (; ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest huma ...

. In 2009, he participated at the UEFA Under-19 Championship with the Italians. In May 2011, he was called-on by

Ciro Ferrara Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. Ferrara spent his playing career as a defender, initially at Napoli and later on at Juventus, winning seven total Serie A titles as well as other domestic and ...

to play the games of the

2011 Toulon Tournament The 2011 Toulon Tournament was the 39th edition of the tournament and took place from June 1 to 10. Ivory Coast were the defending champions, but they failed to win a single match and were eliminated in the group stage. Colombia won the tourname ...

. Under the management of

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 ...

, in 2012, Caldirola was named captain of the under-21 side, where he led the ''Azzurini'' in the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, or simply the 2013 Euro Under-21, was the 19th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Israel from 5–18 June 2013. The Is ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

*
Profile
at

AC Monza Associazione Calcio Monza (), or simply Monza, is a professional football club based in Monza, Lombardy, Italy. The team plays in the Serie B, the second tier of Italian football, following relegation in the 2024–25 Serie A season. The clu ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caldirola, Luca 1991 births Living people Footballers from Desio Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Eredivisie players Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Inter Milan players SBV Vitesse players Brescia Calcio players AC Cesena players SV Werder Bremen players SV Werder Bremen II players SV Darmstadt 98 players Benevento Calcio players AC Monza players Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Italian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Germany 21st-century Italian sportsmen