Rômulo Souza Orestes Caldeira

Rômulo
Personal information
Full nameRômulo Souza Orestes Caldeira
Date of birthMay 22, 1987
Place of birthPelotas, Brazil
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing positionMidfielder, Right back
Club information
Current team
Juventus
Number2
Youth career
2002–2006Caxias
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2006–2007Juventude20(1)
2007–2008Metropolitano25(0)
2008–2009Chapecoense27(3)
2009–2010Santo André23(1)
2010–2012Cruzeiro16(1)
2011–2012→ Atlético PR (loan)5(0)
2012–2014Fiorentina30(2)
2013–2014→ Verona (loan)32(6)
2014–Verona0(0)
2014–→ Juventus (loan)2(0)
National team
2014–Italy0(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 August 2014.
† Appearances (Goals).

Rômulo Souza Orestes Caldeira (born 22 May 1987), commonly known as Rômulo, is a Brazilian-born Italian footballer who plays for Juventus, on loan from Hellas Verona in Serie A as a midfielder or right back.

Club career

Early career

Born in Pelotas, Brazil, Rômulo began his professional footballing career within the youth ranks of Caxias in 2002. Having remained within the club's youth academy until 2006, Rômulo then transferred to Juventude, where he made his professional debut. Over the course of one year with the club, he appeared in 20 league matches and scored one goal. The following year, Rômulo was sold to fellow Brazilian side Metropolitano, spending the 2007 and 2008 season with the club before signing with Chapecoense in 2008. After yet another one–year spell, Rômulo signed with Santo André in 2009, before adding to and continuing his status as a journeyman by signing with Cruzeiro in July 2010.

Cruzeiro

On 10 July 2010, Rômulo was officially presented as a reinforcement of Cruzeiro. He made his debut for the Brazilian giants on July 22, in a match against Fluminense. He went on to make 16 appearances for the club that season, scoring one goal. After less than one full calendar year, however, he was sent on loan to Atlético Paranaense.hi

On 13 April 2011, Rômulo officially joined Atlético Paranaense on loan from Cruzeiro, making just 6 appearances.[1] He returned to Cruzeiro upon the conclusion of the loan agreement, and was soon thereafter sold to Italian Serie A side Fiorentina.

Fiorentina

On 29 June 2011, Rômulo officially joined Fiorentina following the agreement of a permanent transfer from Cruzeiro.[2] He made his debut for La Viola on 21 September 2011 in a 3-0 home victory over Parma. During his first season with the club, Rômulo appeared in just 10 league matches, and started in only 4 of them. During his second season in Serie A, he managed to appear in 20 league fixtures (10 starts), and scored two goals. Despite the improved amount of playing time in his second season, Rômulo was sent out on loan to newly promoted Serie A club Hellas Verona in August 2013, with an option for his new club to acquire 50% of his transfer rights at the end of the 2013–14 Serie A season.

Hellas Verona

Rômulo officially transferred to the northern-Italian side on 13 August 2013, and made his official debut on 24 August in an unexpected 2–1 victory over A.C. Milan at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi in what was Verona's first Serie A match since 2002. He went on to become an integral part of the club's starting line-up under coach Andrea Mandorlini as the Scaglieri finished 10th in the league table, nearly qualifying for the UEFA Europa League. He appeared in 32 league matches and scored 6 goals. Verona exercised their option to sign 50% of the player's contractual rights upon the conclusion of the season.

On 14 July 2014, Verona acquired full ownership of Rômulo.[3]

Juventus FC

On 2 August 2014, Rômulo officially signed for Juventus, on a year-long loan from Hellas Verona for €1m with an option for an outright buy for €6m.[4] The deal means a buy-out clause becomes mandatory if Romulo plays “at least 60 per cent of Juventus' official games in the 2014-15 season”. The official statement notes the overall fixed value of the deal to be €6m - to be paid over three years - with a possible €1m in certain performance-based add-ons.[5]

International career

An Italian citizen through ancestry, Rômulo was first called up by Italy national football team coach Cesare Prandelli in April 2014 for a stage, due to his impressive performances with Verona. On 13 May 2014, Rômulo's name was included into a provisional 30-man squad for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup, but on 1 June 2014, he was omitted from the final 23-man squad for the tournament.[6]

Career statistics

As of 1 October 2014
Club Season League Cup Europe[7] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Caxias 2007 ????–??
Total ????–??
Juventude 2007 ????–??
Total ????–??
Metropolitano 2008 ????–??
Total ????–??
Chapecoense 2009 ????–??
Total ????–??
Santo André 2009 22100–221
2010 1000–10
Total 23100–231
Cruzeiro 2010 16100–161
Total 16100–161
Atlético Paranaense 2011 5000–50
Total 5000–50
Fiorentina 2011–12 10000–100
2012–13 20230–232
Total 30230–332
Verona 2013–14 32610–336
Total 33610–336
Juventus 2014–15 1001–20
Total 1001–20
Career Total 1071040–11210

References

  1. ↑ "Rádio CAP: Rômulo pode estrear contra o Bahia". Atlético Paranaense. 13 April 2011.
  2. ↑ Comunicato Stampa violachannel.tv
  3. ↑ "Hellas Verona sign Romulo". Sky Sports. 15 July 2014.
  4. ↑ http://www.juventus.com/juve/en/news/romulo-press-conference. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ http://football-italia.net/53356/official-romulo-joins-juventus. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Mistretta, Matteo (June 1, 2014). "Convocati Italia Mondiali 2014: la lista dei 23 azzurri [Italian World Cup squad 2014: the list of the 23 Azzurri]". Sport Live. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  7. ↑ Counts for appearances and goals at the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA Supercup and UEFA Intertoto Cup, including qualifying games