Luca Di Matteo

Luca Di Matteo
Personal information
Date of birth (1988-02-25) 25 February 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Pescara, Italy
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Left back
Youth career
2006–2007 Pescara
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Pescara 20 (1)
2008–2010 Palermo 2 (0)
2009 → Cittadella (loan) 10 (0)
2009–2010 → Crotone (loan) 6 (0)
2010–2011 Vicenza 43 (0)
2011–2012 Palermo 0 (0)
2012 → Lecce (loan) 7 (0)
2012–2014 Vicenza 42 (2)
2014 Padova 8 (0)
2014–2015 Teramo 21 (0)
2015–2016 Virtus Lanciano 30 (1)
2016–2017 Latina 27 (0)
2017–2019 Lecce 30 (0)
2019–2021 Teramo 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 May 2021

Luca Di Matteo (born 25 February 1988) is an Italian footballer who plays as a left back.

Career

Di Matteo started his career with Pescara, establishing himself as a player with good potential despite his young age. On January 31, 2008 Palermo signed Di Matteo from then Serie C1 club Pescara, together with teammate Edgar Çani in co-ownership deal for €500,000 and €600,000 respectively.[1] In June 2008 Pescara made a discount on both players, which both were sold for €450,000.[2]

He made his Serie A debut on 27 April 2008 in a 0–0 home tie against Atalanta.[3] Di Matteo was confirmed as part of the Palermo first team squad for the 2008–09 season, but was never featured on the patch and he was successively loaned out to Serie B outfit Cittadella on February 2, 2009 for the remainder of the season. He spent the first half of the 2009–10 season on loan to Crotone.[4]

In February 2010, Di Matteo agreed to leave Crotone and join Vicenza, this time in a co-ownership bid between Palermo and his new club, for a peppercorn fee of €500.[5][6]

Di Matteo made his second comeback to Palermo in June 2011, as his co-ownership was solved in favour of the rosanero for €200,000.[5] In return Nicola Rigoni was sold back to Vicenza also for €200,000.[5] After failing to make a single appearance with Palermo, he was loaned out to Lecce on 31 January 2012.[7] He then returned to Vicenza in August 2012 after being deemed as surplus to requirements from Palermo, and played one season in Serie B and the first half of the 2013–14 season in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione.

In January 2014, he left Vicenza for Serie B club Padova, amassing only a total eight appearances for the club, and suffering a second consecutive relegation. He successively found himself without a club after Padova was excluded from the Italian league system due to financial issues.

On 12 July 2019 he returned to Teramo, signing a 2-year contract.[8]

References

  1. ^ "UFFICIALE: Di Matteo al Palermo" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
  2. ^ US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2008 (in Italian)
  3. ^ "Palermo e Atalanta sono già in vacanza" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 27 April 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  4. ^ "Ecco Legati, Coresi e Di Matteo" (in Italian). FC Crotone. 10 July 2009. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Vicenza Calcio Report and Accounts on 30 June 2011 (in Italian)
  6. ^ "Ultimi movimenti di mercato per i rosa" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  7. ^ "DI MATTEO IN PRESTITO AL LECCE" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 29 September 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Luca Di Matteo sigla il suo ritorno con il Diavolo" (Press release) (in Italian). Teramo. 12 July 2019.