Wladimiro Falcone

Wladimiro Falcone

Falcone in 2023 with Lecce
Personal information
Date of birth	(1995-04-12) 12 April 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Height	1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) [1]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Lecce
Number	30
Youth career
0000–2014	Sampdoria
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2023	Sampdoria	12	(0)
2014–2015	→ Como (loan)	9	(0)
2015–2016	→ Savona (loan)	29	(0)
2016–2017	→ Livorno (loan)	1	(0)
2017	→ Bassano Virtus (loan)	0	(0)
2018	→ Gavorrano (loan)	18	(0)
2018–2019	→ Lucchese (loan)	41	(0)
2020–2021	→ Cosenza (loan)	36	(0)
2022–2023	→ Lecce (loan)	38	(0)
2023–	Lecce	2	(0)
International career‡
2012–2013	Italy U18 [2]	7	(0)
2013–2014	Italy U19 [2]	1	(0)
2015–2016	Italy U20 [2]	4	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 August 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 March 2018

Wladimiro Falcone (born 12 April 1995) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Lecce.

Club career

Sampdoria

Born in Rome, Falcone is a youth product of Ligurian club Sampdoria. He was the first choice of their reserve team from 2012 to 2014, ^[3] while also appearing as unused bench for the first team.

Loans

On 25 July 2014, Falcone was signed by Lega Pro club Como in a temporary deal. ^{[4] [5]} The club won promotion to Serie B in 2015 as the promotion playoffs winner.

On 20 July 2015, he was signed by another third-level club, Savona, in a temporary deal. ^{[6] [7]}

On 9 July 2016, he left Samp once again for Livorno in another temporary deal. ^[8] The club was relegated from Serie B to Lega Pro in 2016. On 31 January 2017, he returned to Sampdoria.

In July 2017, he joined Bassano on loan. ^[9] But in January 2018, he left for Gavorrano. ^[10] Later he went to Lucchese on loan. ^[11]

Return and loan to Cosenza

On 2019 he came back to Sampdoria, and he made his debut for the club on 29 July 2020 in a 1–4 loss against Milan. ^[12]

On 29 August 2020, he extended his contract for Sampdoria until 2024; on the same day he went to Cosenza on a season loan. ^{[13] [14]}

During the whole 2020-21 season, Falcone established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper of the Silani and repeatedly stole the scene thanks to his performances, ^[15] although he couldn't help Cosenza avoid relegation, as a 9-point gap between them and Ascoli allowed the latter team to stay in the second tier without playing a relegation play-out. ^[16]

Loan to Lecce

On 17 July 2022, Falcone joined recently-promoted to Serie A side Lecce on a season-long loan. ^[17] That season, he played all available minutes in the league, helping Lecce avoid relegation to Serie B. ^[18]

Lecce

On 27 July 2023, Lecce announced the permanent signing of Falcone on a five-year contract, ^[19] for a reported fee of €4 million. ^[20]

International career

In 2014, Falcone was a second-choice keeper for Italy's U-19 side during the qualifiers for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, behind Pierluigi Gollini.

On 17 March 2023, Falcone received his first official callup to the senior Italian national team for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against England and Malta. ^[21]

References

1. Sampdoria profile (in Italian)
2. FIGC (in Italian)
3. Fullsoccer (in Italian)
4. "Falcone e Rolando passano in prestito al Calcio Como" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. Sampdoria. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
5. "Wladimiro Falcone: nuova forza tra i pali del Como" (Press release) (in Italian). Calcio Como. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
6. "Wladimiro Falcone al Savona a titolo temporaneo" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. Sampdoria. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
7. "Tre volti nuovi per il Savona Fbc" (Press release) (in Italian). Savona F.B.C. 20 July 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
8. "Falcone passa al Livorno a titolo temporaneo" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. Sampdoria. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
9. "Ufficiale: arriva Falcone dall'U.C. Sampdoria" (Press release) (in Italian). Bassano Virtus 55 S.T. 4 July 2017. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
10. "Ufficiale : Arriva in rossoblu Falcone" (Press release) (in Italian). U.S. Gavorrano. 13 January 2018. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
11. "Dalla Sampdoria arriva in prestito il portiere Falcone" (Press release) (in Italian). S.S.D. Lucchese 1905. 23 August 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
12. "Sampdoria-Milan 1-4: doppio Ibrahimovic, sesto posto blindato" (in Italian). la Repubblica. 29 July 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
13. "Falcone passa al Cosenza a titolo temporaneo" (Press release) (in Italian). U.C. Sampdoria. 29 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
14. "Wladimiro Falcone è il nuovo portiere dei lupi" (Press release) (in Italian). Calcio Cosenza. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
15. Siotto, Paolo (16 March 2021). "Chi è Wladimiro Falcone, portiere per il futuro della Sampdoria". SerieBnews.com (in Italian). Retrieved 29 May 2021.
16. Ponti, Mariacristina (12 May 2021). "Calciomercato, Falcone lascia Cosenza | È lui l'erede in Serie A". SerieBnews.com (in Italian). Retrieved 29 May 2021.
17. "FALCONE E ASKILDSEN IN GIALLOROSSO" (in Italian). Lecce. 17 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
18. "Italy - W. Falcone - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
19. "Wladimiro Falcone è un calciatore del Lecce" [Wladimiro Falcone is a Lecce footballer]. U.S. Lecce (in Italian). 27 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
20. "UFFICIALE: Wladimiro Falcone è un calciatore del Lecce" [OFFICIAL: Wladimiro Falcone is a Lecce footballer]. PianetaLecce. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
21. "Nazionale, Mancini chiama l'argentino Retegui. Prima anche Falcone e Buongiorno" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

External links

• Wladimiro Falcone at Soccerway