Gianluca Lapadula

Gianluca Lapadula Vargas (born 7 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Cagliari.

Born in Italy, he represents the Peru national team.

Lapadula was born in Turin on 7 February 1990, to Gianfranco Lapadula, from the region of Apulia, and Blanca Aida Vargas Higinio, a Peruvian woman.

He has a brother named David, who was also a forward in the lower amateur leagues.

Lapadula is nicknamed Lapagol in Italy, and El Bambino in Peru.

His transfer drew comparisons with that of Gianni Comandini, who had also been signed by Milan as a "number 9" in 2000, primarily due to his goalscoring success in Serie B and without any prior Serie A experience.

Lapadula began his career with Juventus before being released in 2004 because he was not doing well in his studies.

After that he moved to Collegno Paradiso, then left on loan to Treviso in 2006.

He returned to Piedmont for Serie C2 side Pro Vercelli on 31 August 2007.

He played for the reserve team.

In the 2008–09 season, he left for Lega Pro Seconda Divisione (ex–Serie C2) side Ivrea, and was selected to the Lega Pro 2nd Div.

A representative team for Lega Pro Quadrangular Tournament and scored a goal against 2nd Div.

C representative team in the third place match.

Eventually, Group A finished third.

In August 2009 he was signed by Parma and spent one season with their Primavera team.

In July 2010, he left for Atletico Roma.

Lapadula made his debut for Atletico Roma on 8 August 2010, in the Coppa Italia preliminary round, lost in extra time (2–1).

In January 2011, he left for Ravenna.

He concluded the 2011–12 season as the topscorer in Group A with 24 goals.

On 15 June 2012, Lapadula joined Serie B club Cesena in co-ownership, signing a five-year contract.

Lapadula failed to play regularly for Cesena, and on 8 January 2013 he was signed by Frosinone.

In July 2013 the co-ownership between Cesena and Parma was resolved, and Lapadula returned to Parma.

Lapadula was loaned to Slovenian club ND Gorica on 1 July, along with Bright Addae, Daniele Bazzoffia, Uroš Celcer, Massimo Coda, Alex Cordaz, Sebestyén Ihrig-Farkas, Alen Jogan, Floriano Vanzo and Fabio Lebran.

The deals were finalised on 12 July.

In July 2014 he was loaned to Teramo, where he scored 21 goals and helped the club achieve promotion to Serie B, then cancelled in August 2015 by the final judgement of the Italian Football Federation, due to match-fixing on the part of the President of Teramo, Luciano Campitellii, in the penultimate round of the league in the match against Savona.

After the bankruptcy of Parma, Lapadula was released on a free transfer, and in July 2015 he was signed by Pescara in Serie B on a four-year contract.

In the 2015–16 season he scored 30 goals in 43 appearances (including three goals in as many appearances in the playoffs), without scoring any penalties, earning the honour of top scorer in the Italian second division.

On 24 June 2016, Lapadula passed his medical test with AC Milan, who reportedly paid Pescara €9 million plus bonus for the transfer, while the player signed a five-year deal.

He made his debut for Milan on 27 August 2016, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute during a 4–2 loss away against Napoli in Serie A.

He scored his first goal for Milan and in Serie A on 6 November 2016 in the 2–1 away victory against Palermo, three minutes after coming on as a substitute for Carlos Bacca.

On 26 November, Lapadula scored his first brace in Serie A in a 4–1 away victory against Empoli.

He finished the 2016–17 season with 8 goals in 27 games, two of which were scored from a penalty spot.

On 7 November 2016, he was called up to the Italy senior squad for the first time for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Liechtenstein and a friendly match against Germany, replacing the injured Napoli forward Manolo Gabbiadini.

On 18 July 2017, Lapadula moved to Genoa, on a one-season loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent.

The total transfer fee was €13 million (€2 million loan + €11 million for outright ) which was Genoa's most expensive signing of all-time.

On 12 July 2019, he was loaned to Serie A newcomers Lecce.

On 2 September 2020, Lapadula joined Benevento from Genoa on a three-year contract, for a reported fee of €4 million.

On 26 July 2022, Lapadula joined Cagliari on a three-year contract.

Lapadula is eligible to play for Italy and Peru as a result of his family background.

He had received a call-up by Peru for the Copa América Centenario but had not officially decided which international side to represent at the time.