Alessio Cragno

Alessio Cragno
	Cragno with Cagliari in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Alessio Cragno
Date of birth	28 June 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Fiesole, Italy
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Monza
Number	1
Youth career
	Brescia
Senior career*
Years	Team
2012–2014	Brescia
2014–2023	Cagliari
2016	→ Lanciano (loan)
2016–2017	→ Benevento (loan)
2022–2023	→ Monza (loan)
2023–	Monza
2023–2024	→ Sassuolo (loan)
International career‡
2011	Italy U17
2012–2013	Italy U19
2014–2017	Italy U21
2020–	Italy
Medal record
Men's Football
Representing Italy
CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:32, 7 June 2024 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 May 2021

Alessio Cragno (born 28 June 1994) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Monza and the Italy national team.

Club career

Brescia

Cragno made his debut at Brescia Calcio on 25 September 2012 against Modena in a Serie B game, as the starting keeper, ahead of Stefano Russo; first choice keeper Michele Arcari was rested. Brescia won the game 2–1 after two goals from Andrea Caracciolo. Before the start of season Brescia had sold their first choice keeper Nicola Leali to Juventus. Cragno has been the first-choice regular since the 2013–14 season and performed well. Cragno also signed a contract with Brescia which would last until 30 June 2016, in 2012–13 season.^[2]

Cagliari

In July 2014, Cragno moved to Serie A side Cagliari, penning a four-year deal^[3] for a fee of €1 million.^[4] His debut for Cagliari was in a Serie A match against Roma on 21 September 2014, losing 2–0.^[5]^[6]

Loan to Lanciano

In January 2016 he was loaned to Lanciano in Serie B,^[7] who by the end of the season were relegated to Lega Pro after losing the play-out matches against Salernitana. On 9 June 2016, Cragno signed a new four-year deal with Cagliari.^[8]

Loan to Benevento

In summer 2016, he was sent again on loan with option to buy, to Serie B newcomer Benevento.^[9] After a successful season, in which Benevento achieved the promotion to Serie A through play-offs with Cragno as the starting goalkeeper, he returned to Cagliari in the summer of 2017.^{[citation needed]}

Return to Cagliari

During the 2017–18 season he returned to Cagliari, establishing himself as the goalkeeper of the rossoblù team. He played 29 Serie A games, as well as a game in the Coppa Italia – keeping a clean sheet on 7 occasions. The team remained in the top flight after finishing in 16th place.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2018–19 season Cragno stood out as one of the best goalkeepers in the league: he won the Premio Apport for best goalkeeper in Serie A, being voted by the Associazione Italiana Preparatori Portieri Calcio (Italian Association of Goalkeepers Trainers). He finished the season as the player with the most minutes played in the league (3,686) and the goalkeeper with the most saves made (152).^[10]

He renewed his contract with Cagliari until 2024. On 7 August 2019, during a pre-season friendly match played in Istanbul against Fenerbahçe, he sustained an injury and remained on the sidelines for five months. He returned to the field on 26 January 2020, in a 1–1 draw against Inter Milan.^[11]

Monza

On 27 June 2022, Cragno joined newly-promoted Serie A side Monza on a one-year loan, with an option and conditional obligation for purchase.^[12] He made his debut on 8 August, in a 3–2 Coppa Italia win against Frosinone.^[13]

Loan to Sassuolo

After Monza had avoided relegation in the 2022–23 Serie A season, on 15 July 2023, Cragno was sent on loan to Sassuolo with an option to buy.^[14]

International career

Cragno made his debut with the Italy under-21 squad on 4 June 2014, replacing Francesco Bardi in a friendly match won 4–0 against Montenegro.^{[citation needed]} In June 2017, he was included in the Italy under-21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship by manager Luigi Di Biagio.^[15]

Cragno was given his first senior international call-up for Italy in September 2018, by manager Roberto Mancini, for Italy's opening UEFA Nations League matches against Poland and Portugal later that month.^[16] On 7 October 2020, Cragno made his senior International debut for Italy in a friendly match against Moldova, replacing Salvatore Sirigu in the second half of a 6–0 home win.^[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 26 May 2024^[18]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Coppa Italia		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brescia	2012–13	Serie B	2	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2013–14	Serie B	30	0	1	0	—		31	0
	Total		32	0	1	0	0	0	33	0
Cagliari	2014–15	Serie A	14	0	2	0	—		16	0
	2015–16	Serie B	0	0	2	0	—		2	0
	2017–18	Serie A	29	0	1	0	—		30	0
	2018–19	Serie A	38	0	2	0	—		40	0
	2019–20	Serie A	16	0	0	0	—		16	0
	2020–21	Serie A	34	0	0	0	—		34	0
	2021–22	Serie A	35	0	1	0	–		36	0
	Total		166	0	8	0	0	0	174	0
Virtus Lanciano (loan)	2015–16	Serie B	18	0	0	0	2	0	20	0
Benevento (loan)	2016–17	Serie B	33	0	1	0	5	0	39	0
Monza (loan)	2022–23	Serie A	1	0	3	0	—		4	0
Sassuolo (loan)	2023–24	Serie A	3	0	2	0	—		5	0
Career total			253	0	15	0	7	0	275	0

International

As of match played 28 May 2021^[18]^[19]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps
Italy	2020	1
Italy	2021	1
Total		2

Honours

Individual

Serie B Footballer of the Year: 2017^[20]

References

^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 175" [Official Press Release No. 175] (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Serie A. 5 March 2019. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ Brescia Calcio S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. (in Italian)
^ Cagliari, colpo "alla Zeman". Arriva Cragno, 20 anni La Gazzeta della Sport.it. 11 July 2014. (in Italian)
^ Cagliari Calcio S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2015, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. (in Italian)
^ "Roma 2-0 Cagliari: Destro & Florenzi ruin Zeman's return". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Calciomercato: Cragno è rossonero" (in Italian). S.S. Virtus Lanciano 1924. 26 January 2016. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
^ "Alessio Cragno rinnova con il Cagliari" (in Italian). Cagliari Calcio. 9 June 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
^ "Cragno al Benevento" (in Italian). Cagliari Calcio. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
^ "Alessio Cragno rinnova con il Cagliari". calciodangolo (in Italian). 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ Fonsato, Stefano (26 January 2020). "Le pagelle di Inter-Cagliari 1-1: Subito ottimo l'impatto di Young". Eurosport (in Italian). Retrieved 14 December 2020.
^ "Alessio Cragno è biancorosso - Associazione Calcio Monza S.p.A." www.acmonza.com (in Italian). Retrieved 27 June 2022.
^ Panza, Filippo (7 August 2022). "Coppa Italia, il Monza riparte da Gytkjaer e batte 3–2 il Frosinone!". MBNews (in Italian). Retrieved 8 August 2022.
^ "Alessio Cragno in prestito al Sassuolo" (in Italian). AC Monza. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ "U21: Italy squad for Euros named". Football Italia. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
^ "Chiellini rejoins Italy squad; Pellegri called up". sportsnet.ca. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
^ "Italy 6–0 Moldova: Caputo and El Sha shine for Azzurri". Football Italia. 7 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b Alessio Cragno at Soccerway. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
^ "Alessio Cragno". FIGC profile (in Italian). Retrieved 28 May 2021.
^ "Buffon named best player". Football Italia. 27 November 2017.