Simone Verdi

Simone Verdi (Italian pronunciation: [siˈmoːne ˈverdi]; born 12 July 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie B club Südtirol.

Verdi started playing football with amateur club Audax Travacò, before joining Milan at the age of 11.

He made his professional debut for the club, aged 17, in a Coppa Italia game against Novara, on 13 January 2010. He then made his second appearance two weeks later, in the quarter-final against Udinese, which Milan lost 0–1. While playing for the under-20 squad, the young striker scored his first goal at the San Siro in the return leg of the Primavera Cup final, on 14 April 2010. Milan went on to win the match 2–0, as Verdi also made an assist, and secured the trophy 3–1 on aggregate. Here, he was nicknamed Verdinho, as his playing style resembled that of a Brazilian.

In May 2010, Milan CEO Adriano Galliani announced that Verdi, along with three other teammates, was expected to join the senior team permanently for the 2010–11 season. Subsequently, Verdi signed his first professional contract with the club. However, he continued playing mainly in the youth team.

At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Verdi transferred to Serie B club Torino in a co-ownership deal for €2.5 million (exchanged with Gianmario Comi and €150,000 cash). He made his official debut for the club in the first league game of the season, a 2–1 away win against Ascoli on 27 August 2011. He played 12 games in Serie B in the 2011–12 season with Torino, which finished in 2nd place and gained promotion to Serie A.

In 2012–13, he played 4 games in Serie A, making his official debut on 30 September 2012 as a substitute against Atalanta.

On 23 January 2013, he was loaned to Juve Stabia of Serie B for the remainder of the season. In the summer of 2013 the co-ownership agreement between Milan and Torino was renewed for an additional year.

For 2013–14, he was loaned to Empoli, in Serie B. He played his first match for the Azzurri during the second round of Coppa Italia; won 5–1 against Südtirol, in which he also scored his first goal. On 23 November 2013, he scored his first goal in Serie B, a 3–1 in a win away at Spezia. He closed the season with 5 goals in 39 appearances, contributing to the promotion in Serie A of the Tuscans.