Rolando Mandragora (; born 29 June 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. He began his professional career at

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, making five

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 ...

appearances and playing more frequently on loan at

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

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 2016 he 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 ...

, where he made a sole appearance and was loaned a year later to

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 ...

, where he played regularly. He signed for

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

in 2018. He rejoined Juventus in October 2020 and was immediately loaned back to Udinese. Mandragora represented Italy at every age group from under-17 to under-21. He made his senior international debut in June 2018.

Club career

Early career

Mandragora is a native of the

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, 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 Metropolitan City of N ...

quartiere A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the title of (). Formed a ...

'' of

Scampia Scampia (; ) is a modern suburb in the far north of Naples, whose population is about 80,000. To its south are the suburbs of Piscinola, Miano and Secondigliano. It was built during the second half of the twentieth century, Scampia borders to ...

. His father ran the local football school established by

Paolo Paolo is a masculine given name, the Italian language, Italian form of the name Paul (name), Paul. It may refer to: People Art * Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American sculptor * Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter * Paolo Anton ...

and

Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional association football, football coach and former player who last was the head coach of Croatian club GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb. He is regarded as one of the greatest De ...

. Mandragora was scouted by

clubs while at Mariano Keller and joined the youth sector of

at age fourteen. He made his

debut on 29 October 2014 against

in a 1–0 home win. He played the first 69 minutes of the game, before being substituted by

Juraj Kucka Juraj Kucka (; born 26 February 1987), also known by his nickname Kuco (), is a former Slovak professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Slovak club Slovan Bratislava. Club career Early career Kucka made his Corgoň Liga debut ...

Juventus

On 19 January 2016, Juventus confirmed the signing of Mandragora on a five-year contract for an initial fee of €6 million, potentially rising to €12 million based on performance. He spent the rest of the 2015–16 season on loan at

side

. In April 2016 he suffered a fractured metatarsal in his right foot which required surgery. His recovery was hindered due to complications and he was forced to undergo a second surgery that August. Mandragora returned to Juventus for the 2016–17 season and was given the number 38 shirt. He made his Juventus debut on 23 April 2017, coming on as a substitute for

Claudio Marchisio Claudio Marchisio (; born 19 January 1986) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. A product of the Juventus F.C. Youth Sector, Juventus youth system, he spent a large portion of his career ...

in the 86th minute of a 4–0 home win against his former club Genoa, in

. On 5 August 2017, Mandragora was loaned to fellow top-flight team

for the season. He played all but two of their league games, starting each one as the

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

n club suffered relegation, and contributed two goals; the first of his career was on 24 September to open a 2–0 home win over

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato (r ...

Udinese

On 2 July 2018, Mandragora was sold to fellow Serie A side

but Juventus kept a buy-back option for €20 million. Mandragora received a one-match retrospective ban for blasphemy from

Lega Serie A The Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A (Italian for ''National Professionals League Serie A''), commonly known as LNPA or Lega Serie A (Serie A League), is the governing body that runs the major professional Association football, football com ...

in August 2018; after having a shot saved against

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

he shouted insults towards the Virgin Mary and God. On 22 December 2018, Mandragora scored his first goal for Udinese to open a 1–1 home draw with

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

. A week later, he was given a straight red card by the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

also at the

Stadio Friuli The Stadio Friuli (currently known as Bluenergy Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is an all-seater football stadium in Udine, Italy, and the home of Serie A club Udinese. The stadium was built in 1976 and has a capacity of 25,144. Structure The ...

. On 23 June 2020, Mandragora sustained an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

during a 1–0 loss to

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 ...

and was ruled out for over four months.

Return to Juventus

On 3 October 2020,

announced that Mandragora was rejoining the club on a five-year contract for €10.7 million, while remaining with Udinese on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. The deal also included an optional one-year extension of the loan and a potential €6 million extra payment to Udinese based on his performances.

Torino (loan)

On 1 February 2021, after bringing an early finish to his loan at Udinese, Mandragora joined

, again on loan, until June 2022. The deal included a conditional obligation to buy.

Fiorentina

On 4 July 2022, he was sold to

. On 29 May 2024, Mandragora started in Fiorentina's 1–0 extra-time defeat to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

in the

2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final The 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final was the final match of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League, the third season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was held at the Agia Sophia Stadium in Athens, G ...

International career

A regular youth international, Mandragora made his debut for the Italy U21 team on 12 August 2015, in a friendly match against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. He was named in the team for the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

in South Korea. Mandragora 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 ...

under

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for h ...

, starting in a 3–1 friendly loss to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019) was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (25th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth association ...

, as the team's captain.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Juventus *

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

: 2016–17 Fiorentina *Coppa Italia runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

runner-up:

, 2023–24 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 ...

References

External links

Profile
at the ACF Fiorentina website *
Profile at Lega Serie A

Profile at FIGC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandragora, Rolando 1997 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Genoa CFC players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Juventus FC players FC Crotone players Udinese Calcio players Torino FC players ACF Fiorentina players Footballers from Naples Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Italian sportsmen