Paolo De Ceglie

Paolo De Ceglie was born on 17 September 1986 in Aosta, Italy. He started his football career in the Juventus youth system and made all the way up to the Old Lady’s starting eleven.

Initially Paolo played only in youth competitions where he performed extraordinary well. The brightest moment of his youth career is a hat-trick against Inter Milan youth team. De Ceglie was promoted to the first squad after Juventus relegation to Serie B. He made his debut in November 2006 against Napoli. His debut goal in pro football came in his second game against Lecce after a brilliant Palladino pass. De Ceglie appeared in only 8 games of his first club.

In June 2007 he was loaned to Siena in a co-ownership deal. His stay at the club was successful as he played nearly every match and gaining vital experience.

After an impressive 2007/08 season at Siena, De Ceglie was sold to Juventus for €3.5 million. During Ciro Ferrara spell he rarely got in the line-up.

At first, De Ceglie didn’t perform well in Juventus first team. It was in the second half of the 2009/10 season when a new manager Alberto Zaccheroni included him in the starting line-up due to many players’ blows.

In 2014 De Ceglie was loaned out to Genoa.

In December 2006 De Ceglie made his debut for the Italian U-21 team against Luxembourg, coming as a 62nd minute replacement for Arturo Lupoli.

Paolo considers 2008 to be the most successful year of his career. He did well at the 2008 Olympics, and was one of the top players of 2008 Toulon Tournament.