Luca Cigarini’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Luca Cigarini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluːka tʃiɡaˈriːni]; born 20 June 1986) is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Sampdoria as a midfielder.
He is nicknamed il Professore (The Professor) due to his intelligent reading of the game. The Italian Media “La Gazzetta dello Sport” has also stated that Cigarini has a similar vision of the game to that of fellow Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo.

Club career

Parma

He was one of the notable youth products in the 2005 Parma squad, alongside Daniele Dessena.

Atalanta

After Parma was relegated to Serie B in June 2008, he was sold to Atalanta in join-ownership bid, for €4.5 million on 11 July.

Napoli

On 3 July 2009 Napoli signed the talented and hard-working playmaker from Atalanta on a five-year deal for €10.5 million. Atalanta paid Parma €3.5 million plus half the registration rights of Alessio Manzoni to sign Cigarini outright.

On 2 August 2010, Napoli sent Cigarini to Sevilla FC on a loan deal for the 2010-2011 season for €292,500, upon conclusion of the season, Sevilla will have the option to purchase the midfielder for €7 million.

Return to Atalanta

Cigarini returned to Atalanta on loan in summer 2011 for free. On 4 July 2012 the loan was renewed for €1.25 million loan fee.

On 5 July 2013, after spending two seasons on loan with Atalanta, a co-ownership deal was agreed to with Napoli for €2.75 million. Cigarini continued to play for Atalanta for the upcoming 2013–14 Serie A season. Cigarini scored his first goal of the season against Lazio on 20 October. In June 2014 Atalanta acquired Cigarini outright for €2.35 million. Atalanta paid €5.75 million transfer fee in total to re-acquire Cigarini.

Sampdoria

After spending five years with Atalanta, Cigarini made the switch from Bergamo to Genoa, signing a permanent deal with Sampdoria.

International career

On 7 September 2007, Cigarini scored his first ever goal (which was also the winning goal) with the Italy U-21 squad in a 2–1 victory over the Faroe Islands in a UEFA U-21 Qualifying match. He was also part of Pierluigi Casiraghi’s Olympic team that won the 2008 Toulon Tournament. He also played for Italy in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Cigarini received his first call-up to the senior team on 30 August 2010. New coach Cesare Prandelli named him in the squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers as an injury replacement for Claudio Marchisio.

Career statistics

Club

As of 29 August 2012