Ramzi Aya (born 8 February 1990) 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 le ...

who plays as a defender for club

Casertana Casertana Football Club is an Italian association football club based in Caserta, Campania. The club currently plays in Serie D. History The club was founded in 1908 as Robur Caserta and became known as Unione Sportiva Casertana from 1928 unt ...

on loan from

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

. He is of

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n descent.

Club career

Born in Rome, capital of Lazio (and Italy), Aya started his career at "Roma Team Sport", a club which signed a partnership agreement with

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

. In 2005, he was selected to Lazio region U15 representative team, as a midfielder.

Fiorentina (youth)

In 2006, he moved to

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

's ''Allievi'' U17 team, rejoining fellow Lazio representatives Federico Masi. Aya was promoted to the reserve in 2007–08 season, which he only entered the play-offs round once in 2008. The team lost to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

in semi-finals. Fiorentina reserve failed to enter

Campionato Nazionale Primavera The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in th ...

playoffs in 2009 and 2010. Since 2008 Aya also received a shirt number from the first team, No.43 (vacated by Paolo Pincio) and no.41 (vacated by Tagliani) in 2009–10. Aya was eligible to UEFA List B criteria since 2008 (until a possible 2011–12 edition), thus he was included in the List B squad for ''Viola'' in 2008–09 and

2009–10 UEFA Champions League The 2009–10 UEFA Champions League was the 55th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 18th under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played on 22 May 2010, at the Santiago Bernabéu St ...

. Aya played twice for the first team in post-season friendly in 2009 and 2010.

Reggiana

In June 2010 Aya left for Reggiana in co-ownership deal along with

Samuele Bettoni Samuele Bettoni (born 28 November 1989) is an Italian footballer who currently plays for Fanfulla. Biography Fiorentina Bettoni started his career at ACF Fiorentina. He played a few games in end-season friendlies for the first team in May 2009 ...

, for €200,000 and €500 respectively.ACF Fiorentina SpA Report and Accounts on 31 December 2010 Co-currently,

Marco Romizi Marco Augusto Romizi (born February 13, 1990) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cavese. Club career Fiorentina He is a product of Fiorentina youth teams. In July 2009, he was sold to Reggiana of Lega Pro Prima Divisione i ...

and Lorenzo Morelli returned to ''La Viola'' for €200,000 and €150,000 respectively. Thus, Fiorentina paid the Emilia minor club €149,500 in net before the end of 2009–10 financial year of Reggiana, as a ''de facto'' incentive to act as a farm for ''Viola''. In August 2010 Reggiana signed

Piergiuseppe Maritato Piergiuseppe Maritato (born 19 March 1989) is an Italian footballer. He represented Italy at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Biography Born in Cetraro, Calabria, Maritato was a player of Juventus F.C. Youth Sector, in Turin, Piedmont. Fiorentina ...

for €500. Aya made 23 starts in

2010–11 Lega Pro Prima Divisione The 2010–11 Lega Pro Prima Divisione season was the thirty-third football league season of Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the third since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It will be divided into two ...

. In June 2011 Fiorentina bought back ''Viola'' youth product

Niccolò Manfredini Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion". There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The fe ...

, (€215,000), Aya (€215,000),

(€500) and Maritato (€100,000) from Reggiana, co-currently sold Reggiana youth product

Matteo Arati Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escenda ...

back to Reggio Emilia for €180,500.ACF Fiorentina SpA Report and Accounts on 31 December 2011 It made Reggiana received €350,000 in net before the end of 2010–11 season. On 13 August Maritato was sold to Vicenza in co-ownership deal for a peppercorn fee of €500. Aya followed the footsteps of Maritato to leave Florence on 31 August 2011 also for €500 in co-ownership deal. The club failed to find a buyer for its youth product, which Aya forced to return to Reggiana. Fiorentina failed to sell Bettoni, N.Manfredini, and Edoardo Pazzagli who did not play any game in 2011–12 season. In the second season with Reggiana, Aya made 30 starts in

2011–12 Lega Pro Prima Divisione The 2011–12 Lega Pro Prima Divisione season will be the thirty-fourth football league season of Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the fourth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It will be divided i ...

. On 23 June he is purchased entirely by Reggiana.

Fidelis Andria

On 30 August 2015, he joined

Andria Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' in Apulia ( southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Fogg ...

for free.

Salernitana

On 21 January 2020, he joined

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

club

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian 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 recentl ...

on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season, with Salernitana holding an obligation to purchase his rights at the completion of the loan term.

Reggina

On 24 January 2022, he signed with

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are nic ...

Avellino

On 6 August 2022, Aya joined

. On 8 September 2023, he was loaned to

International career

Aya was capped twice for

Italy national under-20 football team Italy national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years. History The Under-20 team ...

, coached by

Francesco Rocca Francesco Rocca (; born 2 August 1954) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who played as a defender. He spent his entire career with Italian club Roma, where he won the Coppa Italia twice. He was the coach of the Italy ...

. He played once in 2008–09 season, against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the last match of 2008–09 Four Nations. Aya was not selected to

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inte ...

, but selected to ''de facto'' U20 B team in annual post-season fixture of U20, unofficial friendlies against Serie D League XI, coached by U19 coach Massimo Piscedda. In June 2011 Aya was recalled by F.Rocca for the last match of 2010–11 Four Nations against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

References

External links

FIGC

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aya, Ramzi 1990 births Italian people of Tunisian descent Footballers from Rome Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders ACF Fiorentina players AC Reggiana 1919 players Rimini FC 1912 players Fidelis Andria 2018 players Catania FC players Pisa SC players US Salernitana 1919 players LFA Reggio Calabria players US Avellino 1912 players Casertana FC players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players