Manuele Blasi (Italian pronunciation:[manuˈɛːleˈblaːzi]; born 17 August 1980) is an Italian former professional footballer who played a midfielder and now works as a coach.
Club career
Primarily a central midfielder, Blasi made his Serie A debut for A.S. Roma in a match against Piacenza on 22 January 2000. he also played for Lecce at Serie B before returned to Roma. In mid-2000 he was signed by Perugia at (first in co-ownership deal for a peppercorn of 1 million Italian lire; €516). At Perugia he played 46 Serie A matches. In June 2001, he was signed permanently for 18 billion lire (€9.296 million)),[1][2] however, in terms of the signing of Giuseppe Cattivera also for 18 billion lire.[3]
In July 2002, he was signed by Juventus for about €17.7 million,[4] and loaned back to Perugia in the first season.
In the second season he joined Parma.[5] He was suspended due to testing positive for nandrolone[6] until March.[7]
The following season, due to the injuries of Jonathan Zebina and Gianluca Pessotto, he often played as a right-back. Due to the arrival of Patrick Vieira and the emergence of Giorgio Chiellini, however, he often found a lack of first team opportunities both in midfield and defence,[9][10][11][12][13] although he was awarded a new contract extension, which would keep him with the club until 2009.[14] He made six starts for the club throughout the season, as the team won a second consecutive league title.[12][13]
While waiting for the outcome of the 2006 Italian football scandal sentences, which ultimately saw Juventus relegated to Serie B and stripped of their previous two league titles due to their involvement in Calciopoli,[12][13] Blasi joined Fiorentina on a loan with an option to buy,[15] under Cesare Prandelli, who had previously also been his coach at Parma.
Napoli
Along with his former Juventus teammate Marcelo Zalayeta, Blasi was sold to newly promoted Serie A team Napoli for €1.4 million and €2.45 million respectively in co-ownership deal in the summer of 2007.[16][17] He signed a five-year contract with the club.[16] In June 2008, Napoli bought the remaining half of the player's registration rights from Juventus for €2.6 million.[18]
On 31 August 2009, Blasi was loaned to Palermo[19][20] after he had played the opening match of the season against Salernitana in the Coppa Italia on 16 August.[21] On 20 May 2010, he joined A.C. Milan on loan exclusively for a three-game friendly tournament in the United States.[22]
Lecce
On 27 January 2012, Blasi signed with Serie A side Lecce during the January transfer window.[23]
Manuele Blasi has also played for the Italian senior national team, for which he debuted on 18 August 2004 in a 2–0 friendly away loss against Iceland, at the age of 24, which was also manager Marcello Lippi's first match in charge of the national side.[32] In total he made eight appearances for Italy between 2004 and 2005.[33]
Style of play
A dynamic, tenacious, combative, and hard-working box-to-box midfielder, with notable stamina, a powerful shot from distance, and good ball-winning abilities, Blasi is a tactically versatile player, who is capable of playing as a right-sided or central midfielder, or even as a defensive midfielder in the centre of a three-man midfield, where his main function is to break down opposition plays and distribute the ball to his teammates. He is also known for his leadership and team spirit, although he has also drawn criticism at times from his managers for committing too many rash fouls and for having a tendency to pick up cards.[9][10][11][12][13][34][35] Primarily a midfielder, throughout his career, he has also played as a right-back on occasion. Due to his technical characteristics and wide range of skills, he has also been deployed as a deep-lyingplaymaker in midfield, in front of the back-line, courtesy of his good feet, distribution, and ability to switch the play.[12][13][35][36]
Coaching career
On 12 January 2017, it was announced, that Blasi had joined Italian amateur club CPC 2005 Civitavecchia.[37] However, in September 2017, he was announced as the club's new manager.[38]
On 23 May 2019, Blasi was named manager of the Maltese club of Hamrun Spartans[39] for his first professional experience as a manager. despite reaching the quarter-finals in the Maltese FA Trophy, he has been sacked by the club on the beginning of February 2020.[40]
Career statistics
Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
^"Ufficiale l'arrivo di Manuele Blasi". ACF Fiorentina (in Italian). 21 June 2006. Archived from the original on 30 June 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2006. La Fiorentina comunica di aver acquisito a titolo temporaneo con diritto di riscatto le prestazioni sportive del centrocampista Manuele Blasi, classe 1980, dalla Juventus FC.
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