Luca Cigarini (; born 20 June 1986) 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club Reggiana.

Club career

Parma

Cigarini was one of the notable youth products in the 2005

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

squad, alongside Daniele Dessena.

Atalanta

After Parma was relegated to Serie B in June 2008, Cigarini was sold to

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 ...

in join-ownership bid, for €4.5 million on 11 July.

Napoli

On 3 July 2009, Cigarini signed for

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

from

on a five-year deal for €10.5 million. Atalanta paid Parma €3.5 million plus half the registration rights of Alessio Manzoni to sign Cigarini outright. On 2 August 2010, Cigarini joined

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

on a loan deal for the 2010–11 season who paid €292,500 for the loan and, upon conclusion of the season, had the option to purchase the midfielder for €7 million.

Return to Atalanta

Cigarini returned to

on loan in summer 2011 for free. On 4 July 2012, the loan was renewed for €1.25 million loan fee. On 5 July 2013, after spending two seasons on loan with Atalanta, a co-ownership deal was agreed to with

for €2.75 million.SSC Napoli FC SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013
PDF purchased from Italian CCIAA
/ref> Cigarini continued to play for Atalanta for the upcoming 2013–14 Serie A season. Cigarini scored his first goal of the season against

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 20 October. In June 2014 Atalanta acquired Cigarini outright for €2.35 million. Atalanta paid €5.75 million transfer fee in total to re-acquire Cigarini.

Sampdoria

After spending five years with Atalanta, Cigarini made the switch from

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

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 ...

, signing a permanent deal with Sampdoria.

Cagliari

In 2017, Cigarini moved to Serie A rivals

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

in an exchange deal with Nicola Murru.

Crotone

On 8 September 2020, Cigarini signed with

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 ...

a 2-years contract.

Reggiana

On 23 August 2021, he signed a two-year contract with Reggiana in

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 ...

, returning to the third tier for the first time since his professional debut season with Sambenedettese.

International career

On 7 September 2007, Cigarini scored his first ever goal (which was also the winning goal) with the Italy U-21 squad in a 2–1 victory over the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

in a UEFA U-21 Qualifying match. He was also part of Pierluigi Casiraghi's Olympic team that won the 2008 Toulon Tournament. He also played for Italy in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. Cigarini received his first call-up to the

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

team on 30 August 2010. New coach Cesare Prandelli named him in the squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers as an injury replacement for

Claudio Marchisio Claudio Marchisio (; born 19 January 1986) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. A product of the Juventus F.C. Youth Sector, Juventus youth system, he spent a large portion of his career ...

Style of play

Luca Cigarini usually plays as a

deep-lying playmaker 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. ...

in midfield, although he is also capable of playing as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He is mostly known for his ability to orchestrate his team's attacking moves, courtesy of his technical qualities and precise long passing. As a youngster, he was nicknamed ''il Professore'' (The Professor) by Cesare Prandelli, his Parma youth manager at the time, due to his playmaking abilities and intelligent reading of the game. The Italian sports newspaper ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

'' has also stated that Cigarini has a similar vision of the game to that of fellow Italian midfielder

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former professional player. Considered one of the greatest Midfielder (association football)#Deep-lying playmaker, mi ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Italy U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

bronze:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

References

External links

Player profile
on Napoli's official website
Luca Cigarini National Team Stats
at FIGC.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Cigarini, Luca Living people 1986 births Footballers from the Province of Reggio Emilia Men's association football midfielders Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Olympic footballers for Italy Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Parma Calcio 1913 players US Sambenedettese players Atalanta BC players UC Sampdoria players SSC Napoli players Sevilla FC players Cagliari Calcio players FC Crotone players AC Reggiana 1919 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players La Liga players 21st-century Italian sportsmen