Fabio Quagliarella

Fabio Quagliarella (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfaːbjo kwaʎʎaˈrɛlla]; born 31 January 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Throughout his career, Quagliarella played for eight different Italian clubs, winning three consecutive Serie A titles from the 2011–12 to 2013–14 seasons with Juventus. With the Turin-based club, he also won two Supercoppa Italiana titles in 2012 and 2013, as well as winning the 2002–03 Serie C2 with Fiorentina. In the Italian top flight, Quagliarella also represented Torino, Ascoli, Udinese, Napoli and Sampdoria.

At the international level, Quagliarella represented Italy from under-18 to under-21 youth levels before his debut for the senior team in 2007. He was part of Italy's squads for UEFA Euro 2008, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Individually, Quagliarella was awarded the Serie A Goal of the Year in 2009, achieved during his time at Udinese; in 2017 and 2018 respectively, he obtained the Premio Gentleman Fairplay and the Scirea Career Award while playing for Sampdoria, which pertain to both personality and playing ability. During the 2018–19 season while at Sampdoria, he scored in eleven consecutive league games, a feat only previously accomplished by Gabriel Batistuta; Quagliarella finished the campaign with 26 goals in Serie A, which saw him capture the Capocannoniere title as the league's top scorer, also being named the league's best forward.

Club career

Early career

Quagliarella grew up in the youth ranks of Gragnano, then Torino, where he made his debut in Serie A on 14 May 2000, in a 2–1 victory over Piacenza.

In 2002, given his limited playing opportunities, Quagliarella was sent on loan to Fiorentina, at that time in Serie C2. In Florence, he scored just one goal in 12 games. In January, head coach Alberto Cavasin decided to cease the loan, whereupon Torino then sent him on loan to Chieti in Serie C1. He also remained in Abruzzo the following season and scored 17 goals in 32 games during the 2003–04 Serie C1 season. His time in Chieti ended with a total of 19 goals in 43 games; at the end of the season, he returned to Torino, in given the 2004–05 season in Serie B.

At Torino, Quagliarella was an occasional starter, and with seven goals in 34 games, contributed to the club's promotion to Serie A. However, as a result of the bankruptcy of Torino Calcio, in August 2005, he was released on a free transfer and accepted a contract with Ascoli. With Ascoli, he was ensured a starting spot in the lineup during the 2005–06 season, scoring his first goal in Serie A on 21 December 2005, a 1–0 home win over Treviso.

Udinese, Ascoli and Sampdoria

Quagliarella signed with Udinese in the summer of 2005. However, Udinese immediately sold half of his registration rights to newly promoted Ascoli as part of a co-ownership deal. He stayed at Ascoli for just one season, scoring just three times in 33 appearances, and his rights were bought back in full by Udinese in June 2006 for an undisclosed fee.

On 7 July 2006, he was sold in co-ownership to Sampdoria, in exchange for the transfer of Salvatore Foti. During the 2006–07 season with the Blucerchiati, Quagliarella scored 13 goals in league play and earned attention worldwide due to the spectacular nature of many of his goals. His breakout season at Sampdoria led to a call-up to the Italy national team and numerous rumors of a high-profile transfer abroad.

Following his breakout 2006–07 season, both Udinese and Sampdoria were unable to come to terms on his co-ownership deal and went to a blind auction on 21 June 2007. In the auction, Sampdoria bid €6.5 Million but was outbid by Udinese, who paid €7.15 million. At Udinese, he started the 2007–08 season slowly, scoring just once in the season's first 11 games. However, he soon found his footing at the club, forming a dangerous strike partnership with Antonio Di Natale and scoring a total of 12 goals in the 2007–08 season. This led to Quagliarella securing a place in the Italian squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 competition. Fabio continued his goal-scoring at Udinese in the 2008–09 season, reaching 21 goals in all competitions, including eight goals in the UEFA Cup, where Udinese reached the quarter-finals.

Napoli

On 1 June 2009, Quagliarella moved to his hometown club Napoli for a transfer fee of €18 Million, where he signed a five-year deal. At Napoli, he was partnered with Ezequiel Lavezzi and attacking midfielder Marek Hamšík and scored 11 goals in Serie A to help Napoli qualify for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League with a sixth-place finish in the league. He played his last match for Napoli in the Europa League, in a 1–0 win over IF Elfsborg. He was an unused bench in the second leg, which Walter Mazzarri used new signing Edinson Cavani partnered with Lavezzi, who the former scored a brace to help the team qualify.

Juventus

On 27 August 2010, Quagliarella signed for Juventus on loan for a fee of €4.5 million, with the Bianconeri having the option to sign him permanently for €10.5 million. Before the winter break, he was the team's top scorer with nine league goals in 17 appearances. However, he injured his right anterior cruciate ligament on 6 January 2011, in the first match after the winter break, losing to Parma 4–1. He would miss the rest of the season. On 22 June 2011, his contract was redeemed by Juventus for €10.5 million. Quagliarella signed a three-year contract extension to stay with Juventus until 2014. On 1 April 2012, he scored his third goal of the season against former club Napoli and refused to celebrate due to his Neapolitan roots. On 30 April 2012, Quagliarella signed a 12-month extension that would keep him tied to the club until the summer of 2015. On 22 September 2012, Quagliarella scored his first brace of the 2012–13 season against Chievo. On 10 November 2012, Quagliarella scored his first hat-trick of the season against Pescara in a match Juventus won 6–1. In the Champions League, he scored his first goal in the competition in the club's opening 2–2 away draw against defending champions Chelsea.

Quagliarella opened the scoring in the March 2013 Derby d'Italia game against Inter Milan with a curled shot from 25 yards (23 m), and made the pass for Alessandro Matri's winner.

Return to Torino

On 17 July 2014, Torino purchased Quagliarella outright for €3.5 million, payable over three years. This signalled his return to Torino after nine years, signing a three-year contract. Upon his return, Quagliarella scored the 3–0 goal on 7 August 2014 from a penalty kick in the third round of the 2014–15 Europa League against Brommapojkarna.

In his first Serie A match back at the club, he won a penalty after being fouled by Inter's Nemanja Vidić, but Marcelo Larrondo missed it and the game finished goalless. The following round, Quagliarella scored his first goal in Serie A for Torino against Cagliari on 24 September 2014 to secure a 2–1 win. He then scored his first goal in Europe with Torino on 2 October 2014 against Copenhagen, with a penalty in the 93rd minute to secure a 1–0 win for the Granata. On 1 February 2015, he scored his first hat-trick for Torino in Serie A against Sampdoria, ending 5–1. On 26 April 2015, he scored the decisive goal against Juventus, 2–1, which handed a victory to Torino in the Turin derby after exactly 20 years.

Return to Sampdoria

After a series of controversies with Torino's fans, resulting from Quagliarella's failure to celebrate after a goal scored against his former club Napoli, on 1 February 2016 he was loaned to Sampdoria with an obligation to buy. He scored his first goal upon his return on 20 February against Inter Milan in the 92nd minute, in a 3–1 away loss. On 20 November, Quagliarella scored his 100th Serie A goal in the 84th minute of his 343rd league appearance, and subsequently set up a goal for teammate Luis Muriel, as Sampdoria came from behind to defeat Sassuolo 3–2 at home.

On 13 January 2017, he signed a new contract with Sampdoria that would keep him with the club until June 2019. On 21 January 2018, Quagliarella scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 home win over Fiorentina but was later substituted in the 75th minute after picking up a knock; his hat-trick saw him set a new personal career seasonal best in Serie A, with 15 goals. He finished the 2017–18 Serie A campaign with 19 goals in 35 appearances, among the best scorers in the league.

During the 2018–19 Serie A season, on 2 September 2018, Quagliarella scored the final goal of a 3–0 home win against Napoli, with what was described by the BBC as a "sensational" backheel volley. He later cited the goal as the best of his career. During the same match, he had previously also set up Gregoire Defrel's second goal. The aforementioned goal was later nominated for the 2019 FIFA Puskás Award on 19 August 2019.