Giorgio Chiellini

Livorno

Chiellini joined the youth teams at Livorno at age six and started out as a central midfielder. As he matured, he switched to playing as a winger and finally he found his position as a left back. He played in the club's youth academy between 1990 and 2000. In 2000, he took part in Torneo di Arco as a squad player for AC Milan's U-17 team during his tryout; while the youth coach Davide Ballardini rated his performance highly, the club could not satisfy Livorno's financial demands for a fifteen-year-old. In the 2000–01 Serie C1 season, Chiellini started to receive his first call-ups to the senior team and eventually made three appearances and followed that up with five more appearances the following season. In June 2002, Chiellini was signed by Roma in a co-ownership deal, for €3.1 million (which also saw Marco Amelia move in the opposite direction, for €2.8 million); however, he was loaned back to Livorno for the 2002–03 Serie B season, after they had earned promotion. In his first Serie B season, Chiellini made six seasonal appearances, also making his Coppa Italia debut. In his second Serie B season, Chiellini broke into the starting line-up for the club and would go on to make 42 official appearances, also scoring four goals from his left-back position. In June 2004, Livorno officially bought back Chiellini for €3 million. During his four-season spell with the club's first team, Chiellini made a total of 57 appearances, scoring four goals, before his…

Youth level

Chiellini represented Italy at all youth levels, and he won the European Under-19 Championship with Italy in 2003, and was also a member of the Italy team that won the bronze medal at the football tournament of the 2004 Summer Olympics. He participated in the 2006 and 2007 U-21 Championships as Italy's captain, scoring 2 goals over both tournaments, although Italy were eliminated in the group stage on both occasions. He was named in the 'UEFA Team of the tournament' of the 2007 U-21 Championships held in the Netherlands, where Italy also obtained qualification for the 2008 Summer Olympics. In total, he made 26 appearances for the Under-21 side, scoring 6 goals.

2004–2008: Early senior career and Euro 2008

Chiellini made his debut for the Italy national team on 17 November 2004 against Finland under Marcello Lippi, at the age of 20. Chiellini was not a part of the Italian squad that won the 2006 World Cup, partially because he had transferred to Juventus in 2005 and was still working his way into consistent playing time with one of the giants of Serie A. He became a regular squad member in 2007, and he scored his first goal for Italy on 21 November 2007, against the Faroe Islands, in Modena, in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match. Chiellini was called up to Italy's squad for UEFA Euro 2008 under manager Roberto Donadoni, and injured captain Fabio Cannavaro in a collision during a training session, which resulted in Cannavaro missing out on the…

Chiellini began his professional career as a defensive-minded left-back, but later made his name as a centre-back, with a penchant for scoring headers from set-pieces, due to his height and strength. A left-footed defender, with awareness, positional sense, and an ability to read the game, he was capable of playing both in a three to four-man defence. He was also known for his ability to cover ground and put pressure on or anticipate opponents in positions higher up on the pitch. Regarded as a promising defender in his youth, Chiellini came to be considered one of the best defenders in world football, one of the greatest defenders of his generation, and one of Juventus's and Italy's greatest defenders ever. In 2018, his Juventus manager at the time – Massimiliano Allegri – described him as "the best defender in the world." Regarding Chiellini's strength and man-marking ability, his former Livorno manager Walter Mazzarri once labeled him as "a force of nature", also adding "he's a universal player that any coach would love to have on his team. He is from another planet; he can mark three players by himself." Due to his tenacious, no-nonsense playing style, Chiellini has been described as an "old-fashioned" man-marking centre-back, or stopper, who primarily served as a ball-winner; as such, he was often partnered with a ball-playing centre-back, such as Bonucci, throughout his career. Chiellini's physicality and aggression as a defender, as well as his trademark goal…

Chiellini was born in Pisa on 14 August 1984. He was raised in Livorno and is one of twin boys. He completed a laurea (bachelor's degree) in economics and commerce at the University of Turin in July 2010, and earned a laurea magistrale (master's degree) in business administration in April 2017 from the same institution, graduating cum laude (with honours).