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 ...

who plays as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club Vis Pesaro.

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 in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

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

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

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

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) 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. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a t ...

, 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 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of ...

side

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

, scoring 10 goals (including a

brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal cu ...

against

L'Aquila L'Aquila ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy. It is the capital city of both the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L'Aquila. , it has a population of 70,967 inhabitants. Laid out within medieval walls on a hill in the wide vall ...

) in 17 appearances. After his promotion to the

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 ...

with Empoli, Pucciarelli made his top flight debut against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a foo ...

on 31 August 2014, replacing

Levan Mchedlidze Levan Mchedlidze ( ka, ლევან მჭედლიძე, tr, ; born 24 March 1990) is a retired Georgian professional footballer who last played as a forward for Georgian club Dinamo Batumi. Club career Empoli Originally noted in early ...

in the 83rd minute. He scored his first Serie A goal on 23 September against

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 season ...

. 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, which competes in the second ...

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

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated ci ...

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 ...

. 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 () 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 Vis Pesaro 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 US 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