Manuele Blasi

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.

In July 2002, he was signed by Juventus for about €17.7 million, 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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

Coaching career On 12 January 2017, it was announced that Blasi had joined Italian amateur club CPC 2005 Civitavecchia. However, in September 2017, he was announced as the club's new manager.

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

International

Honours Chennaiyin FC Indian Super League: 2015