Ciro Immobile

Ciro Immobile (born 20 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for and captains both Serie A club Lazio and the Italy national team.

Immobile began his career at Sorrento.

He later joined Sorrento, with whom he scored 30 goals in the under-17 during the 2007–08 season, including a brace against Torino, impressing the observers of Juventus.

In 2008, he was signed at the age of 18 for €80,000 by Juventus under the recommendation of Ciro Ferrara.

He went on to play with the Primavera formation.

In 2009, he was purchased by Juventus, and was later loaned out to three Serie B clubs, including Pescara, with whom he won the league title as the top scorer, before moving to Genoa in 2012.

Immobile joined the Primavera squad in 2009, where he formed a striking partnership with Ayub Daud, that led the squad to win the 2009 Torneo di Viareggio, where he scored a total five goals; two of which came in the final.

On 14 March 2009, Immobile made his Serie A debut in a 4–1 home win against Bologna, replacing Juventus' captain Alessandro Del Piero in the 89th minute.

On 25 November 2009, Immobile also made his debut in a European competition, once again as a second-half substitute for Del Piero in a Champions League game against Bordeaux.

In February 2010, he scored a hat-trick against Empoli in the 2010 Torneo di Viareggio final to seal the title for a second consecutive season.

On 1 July 2010, Immobile, along with teammate Luca Marrone, were sent on loan to recently relegated Serie B side A.C. Siena.

In exchange for the two loans, Juventus acquired Niccolò Giannetti, Leonardo Spinazzola, and Austrian midfielder Marcel Büchel on loan from the Tuscan club.

Following his departure from Siena, he was immediately loaned by Juventus to Grosseto, another Serie B club for the remainder of the 2010–11 Serie B season.

Immobile never broke into the first team, however, and in January 2011, he left Siena, after just 4 appearances and 1 goal.

On 17 August 2011, it was announced that Immobile would join Serie B club Pescara on a season-long loan from Juventus.

He scored his first goal for the club on 26 August during his debut for Pescara in the first league match against Hellas Verona.

By the end of the 2011–12 Serie B andata (first half of the season), Immobile had already scored 14 league goals.

On 30 January 2012, Genoa confirmed that they had paid €4 million for half of the player's rights from Juventus, following his mercurial form in Serie B. He completed his season with Pescara in the Italian second division, as the club won the league title and sealed promotion to Serie A.

He also went on to become the Serie B season's top scorer with a total of 28 goals, seven more than the second-highest scorer, Juve Stabia's Marco Sau.

Immobile was also named Serie B's Player of the Year at the 2012 AIC Gran Gala del Calcio, alongside teammates Lorenzo Insigne and Marco Verratti.

Immobile formally became a Genoa player on 1 July 2012 after the loan with Pescara expired.

Previously, Immobile had failed to score in Serie A since December 2012.

The goal signalled a run of form for Immobile, with the player scoring a further 12 goals in his next 15 matches, including his first brace in Serie A during a game against Chievo Verona in December.

On 19 June 2013, Genoa and Juventus again renewed the co-ownership agreements of Immobile and Boakye.

On 12 July 2013 Juventus bought Genoa's half of Immobile for €2.75 million.

On the same day he was sold to city-rivals Torino under a new co-ownership deal for €2.75 million.

He made his debut for Torino during the first round of the Coppa Italia against former club Pescara, scoring his first goal of the season.

He provided an assist in his Serie A debut for the club, but did not score until 7 October in a 2–2 draw against Sampdoria.

After a season with the club, he moved to Juventus' rivals Torino, where he won the Capocannoniere award for the top scorer in Serie A. After his breakout season at Torino, he was sold to German club Borussia Dortmund for around €18 million in 2014, where they won the DFL-Supercup, before moving to Spanish club Sevilla in 2015.

Immobile made his debut for the Italy senior team in 2014, and was included in the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and two UEFA European Championships (2016 and 2020), winning the latter tournament.

Born in Torre Annunziata, in the province of Naples, Immobile began his youth career in the football school "Torre Annunziata '88", before transferring to "Maria Rosa" and finally the youth team of Salernitana, where however, he failed to emerge.

On 22 March 2014, Immobile scored his first Serie A hat-trick, in a 3–1 win against Livorno.

Three days later, he scored a spectacular volley with his left foot against Roma, temporarily bringing the Granata level at the Stadio Olimpico.

On 6 April, he scored the winning goal against Catania in a 2–1 victory.

In 2016, he returned to Torino on loan, and was later sold to Lazio in July of that year.

At Lazio, Immobile has won a Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles, and is currently the club's all-time highest goalscorer.

In his second season at Lazio, he won the Capocannoniere for a second time, with 29 goals in 33 games.

The 2019–20 season was the most prolific of Immobile's career; he equalled the record for most Serie A goals in a season with 36, and won a third Capocannoniere title and first European Golden Shoe, given to the top scorer in Europe.

In 2022, he won the Capocannoniere for a fourth time, with 27 goals in 31 games.

He currently sits eighth in the all-time list of Serie A top scorers.