Manuele Blasi (; born 17 August 1980) is an Italian former professional footballer who played a midfielder, currently working as the sporting director of Swiss club FC Paradiso.
Club career Primarily a central midfielder, Blasi made his Serie A debut for AS Roma in a match against Piacenza on 22 January 2000. He also played for Lecce at Serie B before returning to Roma. In mid-2000, he was signed by Perugia at (first in a co-ownership deal for a peppercorn of 1 million Italian lire; €516). At Perugia, he played 46 Serie A matches. In June 2001, he was signed permanently for 18 billion lire (€9.296 million), however, in terms of the signing of Giuseppe Cattivera also for 18 billion lire.AS Roma SpA Report and Accounts on 30 June 2001
In July 2002, he was signed by Juventus for about €17.7 million,A.C. Perugia S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2003 , PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. and loaned back to Perugia in the first season.
In the second season he joined Parma. He was suspended due to testing positive for nandrolone until March.
Juventus Blasi returned to Juventus FC in 2004, under Fabio Capello, his coach at Roma; he received his first Italy call-up in August. In his first season with Juventus, he was often partnered with his former Roma teammate Emerson in the centre of the team's midfield, in Capello's 4–4–2 formation, fighting off competition from Stephen Appiah and Alessio Tacchinardi for a starting spot, and collecting 27 appearances as Juventus won the league title.
The following season, due to the injuries of Jonathan Zebina and Gianluca Pessotto, he often played as a right-back. Due to the arrival of Patrick Vieira and the emergence of Giorgio Chiellini, however, he often found a lack of first team opportunities both in midfield and defence, although he was awarded a new contract extension, which would keep him with the club until 2009. He made six starts for the club throughout the season, as the team won a second consecutive league title.
While waiting for the outcome of the 2006 Italian football scandal sentences, which ultimately saw Juventus relegated to Serie B and stripped of their previous two league titles due to their involvement in Calciopoli, Blasi joined Fiorentina on a loan with an option to buy, under Cesare Prandelli, who had previously also been his coach at Parma.
Napoli Along with his former Juventus teammate Marcelo Zalayeta, Blasi was sold to newly promoted Serie A team Napoli for €1.4 million and €2.45 million respectively in co-ownership deal in the summer of 2007. He signed a five-year contract with the club. In June 2008, Napoli bought the remaining half of the player's registration rights from Juventus for €2.6 million.
On 31 August 2009, Blasi was loaned to Palermo after he had played the opening match of the season against Salernitana in the Coppa Italia on 16 August. On 20 May 2010, he joined AC Milan on loan exclusively for a three-game friendly tournament in the United States.
Lecce On 27 January 2012, Blasi signed with Serie A side Lecce during the January transfer window.
Pescara On 7 August 2012, Blasi joined the newly promoted Serie A side Delfino Pescara 1936 on a one-year deal.
Varese Blasi joined Varese in 2013. He spent two seasons at the club and was released in 2015.
Chennaiyin Blasi joined Indian club Chennaiyin FC in 2015 after the expiry of his contract at Varese. He was retained in 2016, after a short spell at Ischia Isolaverde.
International career At youth level, Blasi played for the Italy U-15 team, the Italy U-16 team in 1997 UEFA European Under-16 Championship qualifying; the Italy U-18 team at the 1999 UEFA European Under-18 Championship, where they lost out to the Portugal U-18 side in the final; and the Italy U-20 team at the 2000 Toulon Tournament. He also played for the Italy U-21 side at the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, as a starter, due to the injury of Enzo Maresca; he partnered Matteo Brighi, Andrea Pirlo and Marco Marchionni in midfield, as they reached the semi-finals.
Manuele Blasi has also played for the Italy senior national team, for which he debuted on 18 August 2004 in a 2–0 friendly away loss against Iceland, at the age of 24, which was also manager Marcello Lippi's first match in charge of the national side. In total, he made eight appearances for Italy between 2004 and 2005.
Style of play A box-to-box midfielder, with high stamina. Blasi is a versatile player, who is capable of playing as a right-sided or central midfielder, or as a defensive midfielder in the centre of a three-man midfield, where his primary function is to break down opposition plays and distribute the ball to his teammates. He is known for his leadership and team spirit, although he has also drawn criticism at times from his managers for committing too many fouls and for tending to pick up cards. Mediagol.it Primarily a midfielder, throughout his career, he has also played as a right-back on occasion. Due to his technical characteristics and wide range of skills, he has been also deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in midfield, in front of the back-line, courtesy of his good feet, distribution, and ability to switch the play.Cosmi: "Blasi regista? Può farlo, ha piedi buoni" Mediagol.it
Coaching career On 12 January 2017, it was announced that Blasi had joined Italian amateur club CPC 2005 Civitavecchia.Colpo della Cpc, arriva Manuele Blasi, centumcellae.it, 12 January 2017 However, in September 2017, he was announced as the club's new manager.Manuele Blasi è il nuovo tecnico della Cpc , civonline.it 12 September 2017
On 23 May 2019, Blasi was named manager of the Maltese club of Hamrun Spartans for his first professional experience as a manager. Despite reaching the quarter-finals in the Maltese FA Trophy, he was sacked by the club on the beginning of February 2020.
Blasi also served as head coach of Swiss team FC Paradiso from October 2024 to March 2025, successively switching to a sporting director position within the same club.
Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCoppa ItaliaContinentalTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLecce (loan)1998–99Serie B12060–180Roma1999–2000Serie A50200070Perugia2000–01Serie A20010202302001–022604000300Total4605020530Perugia (loan)2002–03Serie A3005020370Parma (loan)2003–04Serie A1200010130Juventus2004–05Serie A27010803602005–061303050210Total40040130570Fiorentina (loan)2006–07Serie A3112000331Napoli2007–08Serie A27030003002008–0932000503702009–10001000102010–1120102050Total6105070730Palermo (loan)2009–10Serie A1401000150Parma2011–12Serie A60100070Lecce2011–12Serie A16020–180Pescara2012–13Serie A12000–120Varese2013–14Serie B22010–2302013–1423030–260Total4504000490Career total33013702503921
International + Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsItaly200440200540Total80
Honours Chennaiyin FC Indian Super League: 2015
References
External links
Player profile on Napoli's official website Profile at Football.it Profile at La gazzetta dello Sport Profile at FIGC