Graziano Pellè

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Personal information
Graziano Pellè
Full name	Graziano Pellè
Date of birth	15 July 1985 (1985-07-15) (age 22)
Place of birth	San Cesario di Lecce, Italy
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	AZ
Number	29
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2007 2005 2006 2006–2007 2007–	Lecce → Catania (loan) → Crotone (loan) → Cesena (loan) AZ	12 0(0) 15 0(0) 17 0(6) 38 (10) 27 0(3)
National team²
2004-2005 2005-2007 2008	Italy U-20 Italy U-21 Olympic team	10 0(7) 11 0(0) 05 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 31, 2008. ² National team caps and goals correct as of May 29, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Graziano Pellè (born 15 July 1985 in San Cesario di Lecce) is an Italian football (soccer) striker. He is currently on the books of AZ.

[edit] Career

He started playing in the US Lecce youth team, winning the Coppa Italia Primavera (2001-2002) and two national Primavera titles (2002-2003 e 2003-2004).

He made his Serie A debut in on January 11, 2004 in a home match against Bologna (lost 1-2). In the 2003-2004 season he made 2 appearances. In January 2005 he was sent on loan to Catania Calcio, in Italian Serie B (15 appearances), and in the next summer he took part in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Italian Under-20 team, scoring four goals. In the 2005-2006 season he made 10 appearances in Serie A with Lecce. In January 2006 he was loaned to Crotone (Serie B), scoring 5 goals in 17 appearances. In the 2006-2007 season he was loaned again to Cesena (Serie B), where he made his breakthrough with 10 goals, thus earning a spot in the Italian team at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, where he collected three appearances, all as a replacement. In the 5th place playoff match against Portugal, he notably scored the first of the penalty shootouts with a chip.

Pellè has recently signed a five-year contract with Dutch club AZ. [1] Pellè has stated on AZ.tv that he had a choice of staying at Lecce, who wanted to loan him, moving to Palermo or going to AZ. He chose AZ because of their willingness to give chances to young players. His time at AZ has largely proven to be unfruitful as he has spectacularly struggled to replace the departed Danny Koevermans. Although he occasionally shows some nice touches, his finishing has been below par, as evidenced by his miss from just 2 metres against FC Utrecht at home when the goal was open and several other notable misses against AFC Ajax and F.C. Paços de Ferreira. Louis van Gaal continues to back him but a return of just 3 goals in 22 games is regarded as derisory for an out and out striker.