Nicholas Pierini (born 6 August 1998) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

Club career

Sassuolo

On 29 October 2017, Pierini made his professional debut in

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 ...

for

as a substitute replacing

Luca Mazzitelli Luca Mazzitelli (born 15 November 1995) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Sassuolo on loan from Frosinone. Club career Roma and loans Mazzitelli is a youth exponent from Roma. He made his Serie ...

in the 71st minute of a 3–1 away defeat against

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 ...

. On 20 December he played his first match as a starter in

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

, a 2–1 away defeat against

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 the round of 16, he was replaced by

Diego Falcinelli Diego Falcinelli (born 26 June 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Spezia. Club career Pontevecchio Born in Marsciano, in the Province of Perugia, Falcinelli started his career at Ponte San Giovanni (a ...

in the 54th minute.

Loan to Spezia

On 10 July 2018, Pierini was signed by

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 ...

side

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

on a season-long loan deal. On 4 August he made his debut for Spezia and he scored his first professional goal in the 66th minute of a 2–1 home win over Sambenedettese in the second round of

, he was replaced by

Luca Vignali Luca Vignali (born 11 January 1996) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Spezia. A versatile midfielder, Vignali is capable of playing both centrally and in wide positions. Early career Vignali was born in t ...

after 85 minutes. Three weeks later, on 25 August, he made his Serie B debut for Spezia as a substitute replacing

Emmanuel Gyasi Emanuel Quartsin Gyasi (born 11 January 1994) is a professional footballer and plays as a forward or left winger for Serie A club Empoli. Born in Italy, he plays for the Ghana national team. Club career A Torino youth product, Gyasi made his ...

in the 64th minute of a 1–0 away defeat against

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. One week later, on 1 September, Pierini scored twice in a 3–2 home win over

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 ...

. On 27 October he played his first entire match for the team, a 0–0 away draw against

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

. Pierini ended his season-long loan with 27 appearances and 6 goals.

Loan to Cosenza

On 9 August 2019, Pierini was loaned to

side

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

on season-long loan deal. On 11 August he made his debut for the club in a 1–0 away defeat against

Monopoli Monopoli (; ) is a town and comune, municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,246 (2014), ...

in the second round of

, he played the entire match. On 24 August he made his league debut for Cosenza in a 0–0 away draw against

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 ...

, he was replaced

Riccardo Moreo Riccardo Moreo (born 24 February 1996) is an Italian football player who plays as a forward for Serie D club Prato. Club career He made his Serie C debut for AlbinoLeffe on 11 October 2014 in a game against Feralpisalò. On 15 July 2019, he s ...

after 74 minutes. One week later he played his first entire match for Cosenza, a 1–0 home defeat against

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

. On 24 September, Pierini scored his first goal for Cosenza, as a substitute, in the 94th minute of a 1–1 home draw against

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 ...

. On 10 November he scored twice in a 2–2 away draw against

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

. Pierini ended his loan to Cosenza with 21 appearances, 3 goals and 1 assist.

Loan to Ascoli and Modena

On 5 October 2020, Pierini joined

club Ascoli on loan for the 2020-21 season. On 17 October he made his debut for the club, as a starter in a 1–0 away defeat against Frosinone, he played the entire match. However in January 2021 his loan was interrupted and he returned to Sassuolo leaving Ascoli with 12 appearances, only 5 of them as a starter and one assist. On 1 February 2021, he moved on a new loan to

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

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

. On the next day, Pierini made his debut for his new club as a substitute replacing

Sodinha Felipe Monteiro Diogo (born 17 July 1988), known as Sodinha, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Italian Serie D club Ospitaletto. Career Early career He began his career in the Paulista youth team, a team from his hometown, Jundiaí, and ...

in the 78th minute of a 1–1 home draw against

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to US Triestina or just Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, in the northern Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Originally established in 1918, Triestina was one of the fo ...

. On 21 March he played his first match as a starter for Modena in a 1–0 home win over

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 ...

, he was replaced by

Enrico Bearzotti Enrico Bearzotti (born 29 October 1996) is an Italian football player who plays for Serie D club Brian Lignano. Club career He made his Serie C debut for Padova on 6 September 2015 in a game against Reggiana. On 5 January 2019, he joined Monza ...

in the 82nd minute. On 18 April he scored his first goal for the club in the 53rd minute of a 3–0 home win over

. One week later, on 25 April, he scored his second goal in the 75th minute of a 3–0 home win over

Legnago Legnago (; Venetian: ''Lenjago'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy, with population (2012) of 25,439. It is located on the Adige river, about from Verona. Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other c ...

. Pierini ended his 6-months loan to Modena 12 appearances, 3 goals and 3 assists, he also helped the club to reach the play-offs, but Modena was elimininated 2–1 on aggregate against AlbinoLeffe in the round of 16.

Cesena

On 31 August 2021, he signed a four-year contract with

Venezia

On 13 July 2022, Pierini moved to

on a four-year contract. He contributed to their promotion back to

and played his first top-level games in six years early in the 2024–25 season.

Return to Sassuolo

On 30 August 2024, Pierini signed with

Personal life

He is a son of former Italy international footballer and current coach Alessandro Pierini.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Sassuolo *

: 2024–25

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pierini, Nicholas 1998 births Footballers from Parma Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players US Sassuolo Calcio players Spezia Calcio players Cosenza Calcio players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Modena FC 2018 players Cesena FC players Venezia FC players 21st-century Italian sportsmen