Rolando Bianchi (; born 15 February 1983) is an Italian former 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 played 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 ...

. With 77 total goals, he is

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

's 11th-highest all-time goal scorer. Bianchi was primarily known for his ability in the air.

Club career

Atalanta

A product of the Atalanta youth system, Bianchi made his Serie A debut at the age of 18 during the

2000–01 Serie A The 2000–01 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 99th season of top-tier Italian football, the 69th in a round-robin tournament. It was contested by 18 teams, for the 13th consecutive season since 1988–89. Rom ...

season. He played the final 10 minutes in a 2–1 loss to Juventus on 17 June 2001. His only appearance during the season. The following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

he made an additional three appearances for the ''bergamaschi'', while during the

2002–03 Serie A The 2002–03 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 101st season of top-tier Italian football, the 71st in a round-robin tournament. It was composed by 18 teams, for the 15th consecutive time from season 1988–89. ...

season he made 16 appearances. Despite being a prolific scorer in the youth ranks, he played 21 games for the first team without scoring any goals.

Cagliari

He was sold in co-ownership 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 ...

team

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

in January 2004, where he played 14 matches and scored two goals helping them gain promotion to

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 ...

. The 2004–05 season, for which he remained at Cagliari, saw him score 2 goals in 25 matches.

Reggina

Bianchi was promptly sold to Reggina in 2005, where his first season was hampered by a serious knee injury suffered early on in the season. He recovered to play nine games late in the season, scoring one goal. The 2006–07 season saw Bianchi score 18 goals in 37 games. Due to their indictment for sporting fraud, the club had started the season with an 11-point deduction and seemed destined for relegation. They managed to save themselves, however, with Bianchi's performances considered a key part of Reggina's Serie A survival. He finished the season 4th in the league's goal scoring table.

Manchester City

His form for Reggina attracted the attention of clubs throughout Europe, and in July 2007 Bianchi moved to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

for a reported fee of £8.8 million (€13 million), where he was given the number 10 shirt. Bianchi scored on his debut for

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

against

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

, slotting home from close range following a run and pass from

Elano Elano Blumer (born 14 June 1981), known as Elano, is a Brazilian football coach and former player who played as an attacking midfielder. Known for his accurate passing and precise set pieces, Elano started his senior career at Santos, and spe ...

. Bianchi's second goal came in a 2–1 victory in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

2nd round against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. Bianchi then scored his third goal in English football in a 2–1 defeat against

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

on 9 December 2007. Then on the following Saturday he scored the first goal against Bolton in a 4–2 victory. Later that month, Bianchi criticised English cuisine and alcohol culture, and stated how he could never become a full international unless he returned to Serie A.

Loan to Lazio

In January 2008, Manchester City manager

Sven-Göran Eriksson Sven-Göran Eriksson (; 5 February 1948 – 26 August 2024) was a Swedish association football, football player and Coach (sport), manager. After a playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management ...

informed Bianchi that he would be allowed to leave the club. On 23 January 2008, Bianchi finalised a loan move to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

after not being able to settle in England. In his debut with Lazio on 27 January, Bianchi was sent off after picking up two yellow cards in just under five minutes, as the capital club drew 0–0 with Torino. He scored his first goal for Lazio against former club Reggina from a penalty kick in a 1–0 victory. In spite of Bianchi's hope that Lazio would make his move permanent, he had in fact been asked to return to Manchester City.

Torino

On 23 August 2008, after a summer of much speculation about a possible move, it was officially announced by Manchester City that Bianchi had signed for Italian club

on a five-year deal, for a fee of €5 million. On 18 August 2012, Bianchi scored two goals in Torino's 4–2 defeat of

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce () is a Football in Italy, professional Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2023–24 Serie A, 2023–24 season, the top level of the Italian football league system, Italian footb ...

in the Third Round of the

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 ...

, Torino's first competitive game of the new season. He scored two goals in the 5–1 defeat of

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 30 September, reaching 70 goals with Torino. With these strikes, he entered into the Top 10 scorers for the club, tied with club legend,

Ezio Loik Ezio Loik (; 26 September 1919 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Rijeka, Fiume, Loik began his career with U.S. Fiumana, Fiumana. He made his Serie A debut with A.C. Milan in 193 ...

. Bianchi helped the club to a 3–2 victory over

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

on 13 January 2013, heading in a cross from Valter Birsa in the later stages of the first-half.

Bologna and Atalanta

On 9 July 2013, Bianchi was signed by

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 ...

. Bologna relegated at the end of season. Bianchi wore no.9 shirt that season. On 5 August 2014, Bianchi returned to Atalanta in a temporary deal, with

Rubén Bentancourt Rubén Daniel Bentancourt Morales (born 2 March 1993) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Argentine Primera División club Argentinos Juniors. Career Bentancourt made his professional debut as Jong PSV player in ...

moved to opposite direction. On the same day Bologna signed

Daniele Cacia Daniele Cacia (born 23 August 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He is a former Italy Under 19 international. Club career Piacenza Born in Catanzaro, and coming through the youth ranks at Piacenza. He made his ...

. On 8 August 2015, he was released by Bologna.

Mallorca and Perugia

On 27 August 2015, Bianchi joined

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

. After contributing with only two goals in 16 matches, he rescinded his contract and moved to

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

. Bianchi signed a -year contract with

on 20 January 2016.

Pro Vercelli

On 19 February 2017, Bianchi signed with

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Ital ...

International career

In the summer of 2006, Bianchi was called up to the Italy U-21 squad for the 2006 U-21 Championships in Portugal, where he appeared three times and scored one goal.

References

External links

* * *
Lega Serie A profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi, Rolando 1983 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Bergamo Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Cagliari Calcio players Atalanta BC players AS Reggina 1914 players SS Lazio players Torino FC players Bologna FC 1909 players AC Perugia Calcio players Premier League players Manchester City F.C. players Segunda División players RCD Mallorca players Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century Italian sportsmen