Giorgio Chiellini is an Italian footballer who currently plays for Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. He started of his career playing as a left back but made his name as a consistent, hard tackling centre back. Chiellini joined the youth teams at Livorno at age six and started out as a central midfielder, switching to the midfield position as he progressed. He played in the clubs' youth academy between 1990 and 2000, before earning first team call-ups for the 2000–01 Serie C1 season. In June 2002, he was signed by Roma in co-ownership deal, for €3.1 million, however, he was loaned back to Livorno for the 2002–03 Serie B season. Chiellini was signed by Juventus in the summer 2004 for €6.5 million. but was immediately sold in a co-ownership deal to Fiorentina for €3.5 million, where he played during the 2004–05 Serie A season. After an excellent first season in Serie A, Chiellini was recalled for the 2005–06 season and Juventus paid €4.3 million for the rest of his contract. Chiellini made his debut for the Italian national team in November 2004 against Finland, and has since become a regular squad member. He won the European Under-19 Championship with Italy in 2003, and was also a member of the Italy team that won the bronze medals at the football tournament of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
