Riccardo Orsolini (born 24 January 1997) 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 winger for club

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and the Italy national team.

Club career

Early career

Orsolini is a product of Ascoli's youth academy. He made his debut with the first team in the 2015–16 season in Serie B, obtaining 9 appearances in the league.

Juventus

On 30 January 2017, Orsolini joined

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

on a contract until June 2021, for a fee of €6 million, plus an extra €4 million depending on certain conditions. However Orsolini remained in Ascoli Piceno until the end of the season. On 14 July 2017, Orsolini joined

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 ...

on a two-year loan.

Bologna

Orsolini moved back to Juventus and then on loan to

in January 2018 after making only substitute appearances for Atalanta. The loan was for 18 months with an option to buy. On 19 June 2019, Orsolini signed a deal with Bologna and signed for the club on a permanent basis. On 25 August 2023, Orsolini extended his contract with Bologna until 30 June 2027. On 14 May 2025, he won

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 ...

with Bologna, helping the club to their first major trophy in 51 years. In the 2024–25 season, Orsolini achieved a personal best by scoring 15 goals in Serie A and totaling 17 across all competitions, making him the club's top scorer.

International career

With the Italy U-20 side, Orsolini took part at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and led the tournament in goals, scoring five, as Italy finished the competition in third place, their best ever result. Due to his prolific performances, he was named by many in the media as the outright best player on the Italian side. He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 1 September 2017, under manager

Luigi Di Biagio Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is currently managing Saudi Arabia U23. A former midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli in 2007, and previously also played for seve ...

, in a 3–0 friendly defeat against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Orsolini made his senior international debut for

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 the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 18 November 2019, under manager Roberto Mancini, coming on as a substitute for Nicolò Barella in a 9–1 home win over

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, in Italy's final Euro 2020 qualifier; he marked the occasion by scoring his first international goal, and also later provided an assist for

Federico Chiesa Federico Chiesa (; born 25 October 1997) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), winger for club Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and the Italy national football team, Italy national t ...

's goal.

Style of play

Orsolini is a physically strong and fast-paced winger, who excels in one on one situations due to his excellent

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

ability. Although he is naturally left-footed, he prefers to play on the right flank, in either a 4–3–3 or 4–2–3–1 formation, a position which allows him to cut into the centre and shoot on goal with his stronger foot.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Orsolini goal.''

Honours

Bologna *

: 2024–25 Italy U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

bronze medal:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual * FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Boot:

(5 goals) *

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 ...

Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Bologna FC 1909 website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orsolini, Riccardo 1997 births Footballers from Ascoli Piceno Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Atalanta BC players Bologna FC 1909 players Juventus FC players Men's association football wingers 21st-century Italian sportsmen