Wladimiro Falcone

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

Wladimiro Falcone

Falcone in 2023 with Lecce
Personal information
Date of birth	(1995-04-12) 12 April 1995 (age 29)
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	37	(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

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 Italy 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. (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. (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. (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. (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