Manuel Pucciarelli (born 17 June 1991) is an Italian

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

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

attacking 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. ...

for club

Vis Pesaro Vis Pesaro dal 1898 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Vis Pesaro, is an Italian association football club located in Pesaro, Marche. The club currently plays in Serie C. The team is the largest in the city and among the oldest in Italy. Vis Pesa ...

Career

Pucciarelli first began playing football in Jolly Montemurlo's youth sector. At 10 years old, he moved to

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 ...

; he played for their youth team in the 2009–10 Campionato Primavera final, scoring a goal in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

. On 29 May 2011, Pucciarelli made his first-team debut in a 1–1 draw against

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

, replacing

Mirko Valdifiori Mirko Valdifiori (; born 21 April 1986) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. A Cesena youth-product, he began his career with the senior side in 2004, but was sent on loan to Serie C sides Pavia and Legnano, before m ...

in the 60th minute. On 22 January 2012, he moved on loan to

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging ...

side

Gavorrano Gavorrano is a mountain-side ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto in the western Italy, Italian region of Tuscany, located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Florence and about 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Grosse ...

, scoring 10 goals (including a

brace Brace (formerly known as ''Brace For War'') was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Brace was founded in 2005 by Kya Pate. In an interview with MMA Kanvas Kya Pate detailed what it is like to be the promoter of Australian MMA. Si ...

against

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of the Province of L'Aquila and the Abruzzo region in Italy. , it has a population of 69,902. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide valley of the A ...

) in 17 appearances. After his promotion to the

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 ...

with Empoli, Pucciarelli made his top flight debut against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

on 31 August 2014, replacing Levan Mchedlidze in the 83rd minute. He scored his first Serie A goal on 23 September against

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

. On 11 July 2017, Pucciarelli was sent on a two-year loan to

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

, with obligation for purchase. On 31 January 2020, Pucciarelli joined

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season. On 20 January 2021, Pucciarelli was loaned to Dibba Al-Furjarah in the

UAE First Division League UAE First Division League is the second tier of football league competition in the United Arab Emirates. As of 2020–21, the league features 15 sides who play each other in a home and away round-robin format, with a total of 28 games for each t ...

. In September 2021, Pucciarelli joined Australian club Melbourne City on a two-year deal. On 22 November 2022, Pucciarelli signed for

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 ...

club

as a free transfer, agreeing a contract until the end of the season with an option to extend.

Style of play

Pucciarelli is a

, who can also play as an

. He is good at creating attacking opportunities for his teammates, and is known for his endurance and pressing the opposing ball carrier.

References

External links

* *
Lega Serie B profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pucciarelli, Manuel Living people 1991 births People from Montemurlo Sportspeople from the Province of Prato Footballers from Tuscany Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Empoli FC players USD Follonica Gavorrano players AC ChievoVerona players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Dibba Al Fujairah FC players Melbourne City FC players Vis Pesaro dal 1898 players Serie B players Serie A players UAE First Division League players A-League Men players Serie C players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Italian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia 21st-century Italian sportsmen