Matteo Bonatti (born 24 May 1981) is a former 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 ...

. Bonatti spent most of his career in Tuscany and fully or half owned by

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 also spent 2000–2006 seasons in Italian fourth highest level and from 2006 to December 2009 played at the third highest level.

Biography

Born in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, Bonatti started his career at

. Since 2000, he left for various ''

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

'' clubs on loan and in co-ownership deal before formally ended his contract with Empoli in 2010. Bonatti then signed by ''

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

'' club Rosignano. Bonatti played for Tuscany club

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

in 2000–01. That window Empoli also signed

Alessandro Diamanti Alessandro Diamanti (; born 2 May 1983) is an Italian professional football coach and former midfielder who is the manager for Melbourne City Youth. In a professional career spanning 24 years, he has played for Prato, Empoli, Fucecchio, Fiorent ...

in exchange. In mid-2002, he left for

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

in co-ownership deal. In June 2003, he returned to

and left for another Tuscany club

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. The team plays in Serie B, second tier of Italian football, after promotion from Serie C in 2023–24. History The club was foun ...

. He was the regular of the team, survived from the relegation "play-out" in May 2004. He partnered with Davide Mandorlini in the first leg and Andrea Raggi in the second leg. In May 2006, he played both legs of the relegation "play-out", partnering Alfonso Caruso. The team survived from relegation. Bonatti returned to Empoli again in June 2006 and left for Massese on loan with option to sign half of the registration rights. He played 26 ''

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

'' games and on 2 July 2007 Massese excised the rights. On 31 January 2008, he was signed by Lucchese. The co-ownership was renewed in June but in July Empoli bought back Bonatti from the bankrupted team. Empoli also signed his team-mate Maikol Benassi. He was loaned to another ''Prima Divisione'' (ex – ''Serie C1'') team

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

, winning the promotion to ''

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 ...

''. In August 2009 he was signed by

Lumezzane Lumezzane (, locally ) is a town and (municipality) in the province of Brescia, in the Italian region of Lombardy. With a population of 22,255 (), it is one of the largest towns in its province. It is situated in the Gobbia Valley, which is a s ...

. In February 2010 he left for

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

team Universitatea Cluj. In June Empoli gave up the remains 50% registration rights to Lumezzane. On 4 September Lumezzane terminated the contract with Bonatti. On the same day he was signed by non-professional team Rosignano. The club located in

Rosignano Marittimo Rosignano Marittimo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence and about southeast of Livorno. Geography Rosignano Marittimo borders the following municipalitie ...

, the

Province of Livorno The province of Livorno () or, traditionally, province of Leghorn, is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Tuscany region of Italy. It includes several islands of the Tuscan Archipelago, including Elba and Capraia. Its capital is the city of Liv ...

Honours

* ''

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

'': 2009 * '' Supercoppa di Lega di Prima Divisione'': 2009

References

External links

Football.it Profile
*
LaSerieD.com Profile

calciatori.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonatti, Matteo Italian men's footballers Empoli FC players AC Prato players Calcio Foggia 1920 players Carrarese Calcio 1908 players US Massese 1919 players Lucchese 1905 players ASD Città di Gallipoli players FC Lumezzane players FC Universitatea Cluj players Men's association football central defenders Footballers from Livorno 1981 births Living people Italian emigrants to the United States Italian expatriates in the United States 21st-century Italian sportsmen