Manuel De Luca (born 17 July 1998) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Cremonese.
De Luca made his first-team debut for Torino on 3 January 2018 in a 2017–18 Coppa Italia quarterfinal against Juventus, coming on as a late substitute as Torino lost 0–2.[2]
On 16 January 2018, De Luca was loaned to Serie C side Renate on a 6-month loan deal.[3] On 22 January he made his Serie C debut for Renate as a substitute replacing Antonio Palma in the 58th minute of a 2–0 away defeat against AlbinoLeffe.[4] On 3 February, De Luca played his first entire match for Renate and he scored his first professional goal in the 71st minute of a 2–1 away defeat against Reggiana.[5] On 31 March he received his first red card, as a substitute, in the 79th minute of a 1–1 home draw against Mestre.[6] On 22 April he scored his second goal in the 55th minute of a 1–0 away win over Santarcangelo.[7] On 6 May he scored his third goal, as a substitute, in the 82nd minute of a 1–1 away draw against Pordenone.[8] De Luca ended his loan to Renate with 14 appearances, 3 goals and 1 assist.[9]
On 28 July 2018, De Luca was signed by Serie C side Alessandria on a season-long loan deal.[10] On 29 July he made his debut for Alessandria in a 1–0 home defeat against Giana Erminio in the first round of Coppa Italia, he was replaced by Michele Marconi in the 56th minute.[11] On 16 September he made his Serie C debut for Alessandria and he scored his first goal for the team in the 60th minute of a 2–1 away win over Juventus U23, he was replaced by Erik Panizzi after 82 minutes.[12] One week later, on 23 September, he played his first entire match for Alessandria, a 3–1 home defeat against Pro Piacenza.[13] On 14 October he scored his second goal in the 39th minute of a 1–1 home draw against Robur Siena.[14] One week later he scored his third goal in the 79th minute of a 1–0 away win over Arzachena.[15] On 28 October he was sent off with a red card in the 80th minute of a 1–1 home draw against Gozzano.[16] De Luca ended his loan to Alessandria with 37 appearances, 11 goals and 1 assist.[9]
On 17 July 2019, De Luca was loaned to newly Serie B promoted club Virtus Entella on a season-long loan deal.[17] On 14 September he made his Serie B debut for the club as a substitute replacing Claudio Morra in the 62nd minute of a 1–0 home win over Frosinone.[18] Ten days later, on 24 September, De Luca he played his first match as a starter for Virtus Entella, a 2–0 home defeat against Venezia, he was replaced after 62 minutes by Matteo Mancosu.[19] On 14 December he played his first entire match and he also scored his first goal in Serie B for the club in the 40th minute of a 2–0 home win over Empoli.[20] Two weeks later he scored his second goal, as a substitute, in the 90th minute of a 3–1 away win over Cittadella.[21] On 31 July 2020 he scored his third goal for the club in the 49th minute of a 3–2 home defeat against Cittadella.[22] De Luca ended his loan to Virtus Entella with 19 appearances, including 11 of them as a starter, 3 goals and 1 assist.[9]
On 22 September 2020, De Luca moved to ChievoVerona.[23] Four days later, on 26 September, he made his debut for the club as a substitute replacing Michael Fabbro for the last 17 minutes of a 0–0 away draw against Pescara.[24] Four more days later, on 30 September, De Luca scored his first goal for Chievo in the 43rd minute of a 1–1 draw against Catanzaro in the second round of Coppa Italia, however Chievo lost 7–6 at penalties, he played the entire match.[25] On 11 December he played his first match as a starter in the league for Chievo, a 3–0 home win over Reggina, he was replaced by Filip Đorđević in the 67th minute.[26]
On 12 August 2021, De Luca signed a four-year contract with Sampdoria.[27]
On 26 August 2021, De Luca joined Perugia on a season-long loan.[28]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Torino | 2017–18 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Renate (loan) | 2017–18 | Serie C | 13 | 3 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | 15 | 3 | |
| Alessandria (loan) | 2018–19 | Serie C | 35 | 10 | 3[c] | 1 | — | 1[b] | 1 | 39 | 12 | |
| Virtus Entella (loan) | 2019–20 | Serie B | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 3 | ||
| Chievo | 2020–21 | Serie B | 32 | 6 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 33 | 7 | ||
| Perugia (loan) | 2020–21 | Serie B | 33 | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 34 | 10 | |
| Sampdoria | 2022–23 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Serie B | 32 | 10 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | 35 | 10 | ||
| Total | 34 | 10 | 3 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 38 | 10 | |||
| Cremonese | 2024–25 | Serie B | 34 | 8 | 2 | 1 | — | 3[d] | 2 | 39 | 11 | |
| 2025–26 | Serie A | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 1 | |||
| Total | 36 | 9 | 3 | 1 | — | 3 | 2 | 42 | 12 | |||
| Career total | 202 | 51 | 12 | 3 | — | 7 | 3 | 221 | 57 | |||
