Graziano Pellè
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Graziano Pellè | ||
| Date of birth | 15 July 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | San Cesario di Lecce, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Feyenoord | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2004 | Lecce | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2007 | Lecce | 12 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Catania (loan) | 15 | (0) |
| 2006 | → Crotone (loan) | 17 | (6) |
| 2006–2007 | → Cesena (loan) | 37 | (10) |
| 2007–2011 | AZ | 78 | (14) |
| 2011–2012 | Parma | 13 | (1) |
| 2012 | → Sampdoria (loan) | 12 | (4) |
| 2012–2013 | → Feyenoord (loan) | 29 | (27) |
| 2013– | Feyenoord | 19 | (16) |
| National team | |||
| 2004–2005 | Italy U20 | 10 | (7) |
| 2005–2007 | Italy U21 | 11 | (0) |
| 2008 | Italy Olympic | 5 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 December 2013. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Graziano Pellè (Italian pronunciation: [ɡratˈtsjano pelˈlɛ]; born 15 July 1985) is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Feyenoord in the Eredivisie, as a striker.
Club career
Lecce
Born in San Cesario di Lecce, Province of Lecce, Pellè started playing for U.S. Lecce's youth teams, winning two Campionato Primavera titles (2003–04) and the Coppa Italia Primavera (2002). He made his Serie A debut on 11 January 2004 in 1–2 home defeat against Bologna F.C. 1909, making a total of two appearances in the season.
In January 2005 Pellè was loaned out to Catania Calcio in Serie B, being regularly used but failing to find the net. In the summer took part in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with the under-20 team, scoring four goals in an eventual quarterfinal exit,[1] and returned to Lecce for 2005–06, only to be loaned again in the winter transfer window, again to the second division, now to F.C. Crotone.
In the 2006–07 season Pellè was yet again loaned to a level two club, this time to A.C. Cesena, where he had a breakthrough year 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 substitute: in the 5th-place playoff match against Portugal, he scored the first penalty kick in the shootout win, through a chip.
AZ
In July 2007, Pellè lost all ties to Lecce and signed for Dutch outfit AZ. He stated in an interview that he had a choice of staying at Lecce, who would loan him to U.S. Città di Palermo, but chose the Alkmaar club instead because of its willingness to give chances to young players. However, his debut was largely unfruitful, as he struggled to replace PSV Eindhoven-bound Danny Koevermans, and finished his first season with just three goals in 27 games (16 starts).[2]
On 28 December 2008, Pellè scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win against NEC Nijmegen.[3] In February of the following year he netted twice in a 3–0 home success over FC Groningen,[4] but was overall sparingly used by the North Holland side over the course of four Eredivisie seasons, being released in June 2011.
Parma
In early July 2011, Parma F.C. confirmed through its official website that Pellè had signed a multiyear contract with the team.[5] On 31 January 2012 he signed with U.C. Sampdoria in the second division, on loan.
For the 2012–13 season, still owned by Parma, Pellè returned to the Netherlands, joining Feyenoord and becoming the first Italian to play for the club. He scored 11 goals in his first ten games, including a last-minute one in a 2–2 home draw against AFC Ajax[6] and all of his team's in a 2–0 success over RKC Waalwijk, also at De Kuip.[7]
Feyenoord
On 5 January 2013 Pellè signed a four-year contract with the Rotterdam club, effective as of 1 July.[8] At the end of the campaign he had netted 27 league goals, ranking second in the domestic charts[9] and also becoming the best-ever Italian scorer in a league outside the country after surpassing Luca Toni (FC Bayern Munich) and Christian Vieri (Atlético Madrid).[10]
Career statistics
- As of 01 February 2014
| Team | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lecce | 2003–04 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 11 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 0 | |
| Catania (loan) | 2004–05 | 15 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 15 | 0 |
| Total | 15 | 0 | - | - | – | – | 15 | 0 | |
| Crotone (loan) | 2005–06 | 17 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 17 | 6 |
| Total | 17 | 6 | - | - | – | – | 17 | 6 | |
| Cesena (loan) | 2006–07 | 38 | 10 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 40 | 11 |
| Total | 38 | 10 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 40 | 11 | |
| AZ | 2007–08 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 4 |
| 2008–09 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 23 | 4 | |
| 2009–10 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 2 | |
| 2010–11 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 20 | 6 | |
| Total | 78 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 91 | 16 | |
| Parma | 2011–12 | 11 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 11 | 1 |
| 2012–13 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 1 | - | - | – | – | 12 | 1 | |
| Sampdoria (loan) | 2011–12 | 12 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 12 | 4 |
| Total | 12 | 4 | - | - | – | – | 12 | 4 | |
| Feyenoord | 2012–13 | 29 | 27 | 4 | 2 | - | - | 33 | 29 |
| 2013–14 | 19 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 19 | |
| Total | 48 | 43 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57 | 48 | |
| Career Total | 232 | 78 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 257 | 86 | |
Honours
- AZ
Personal life
In addition to Italian, Pellè learned to speak French, Spanish and English fluently, but not Dutch.[11]
References
- ↑ Graziano Pellè – FIFA competition record
- ↑ Exclusive: Graziano Pelle happy with life In Alkmaar; Goal.com, 3 March 2009
- ↑ AZ Alkmaar 1–0 NEC Nijmegen; ESPN Soccernet, 28 December 2008
- ↑ AZ Alkmaar 3–0 FC Groningen; ESPN Soccernet, 28 February 2009
- ↑ Ufficiale: Il Parma prende Borini, Pellè e Sansone (Official: Parma gets Borini, Pellè and Sansone); Tutto Mercato, 2 July 2011 (Italian)
- ↑ Pellè schiet Feyenoord in extra tijd naast Ajax (Pellè saves Feyenoord in injury time against Ajax); NRC, 28 October 2012 (Dutch)
- ↑ Feyenoord 2–0 RKC Waalwijk; ESPN FC, 1 December 2012
- ↑ "Feyenoord bindt Pellè voor vier jaar" [Feyenoord gets Pellè for four years] (in Dutch). Feyenoord's official website. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ↑ "Pellè capocannoniere in Olanda: è il quinto italiano topscorer all'estero" [Pellè capocannoniere in the Netherlands: the fifth Italian top scorer abroad] (in Italian). Leo Sport. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ "Graziano Pelle (Feyenoord) supera el récord de Vieri y Luca Toni" [Graziano Pelle (Feyenoord) surpasses Vieri and Luca Toni record] (in Spanish). 91 Minutos. April 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ↑ Graziano Pelle over komst naar Feyenoord (Graziano Pelle on coming to Feyenoord); at YouTube (Dutch)
External links
- Stats at Lega Serie A (Italian)
- National team data (Italian)
- Stats at Voetbal International (Dutch)
- Transfermarkt profile
- Official website
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