Antonio Barreca is bidding farewell to Sampdoria after remaining on the fringes of Leonardo Semplici’s technical project. His next destination, after two seasons under the Lantern, is Sudtirol.
With Marco Baroni’s Lecce in 2021/2022, Barreca, alternating with Gallo, has collected 22 appearances. Below is the press release from the Alto Adige-based team:
“FC Südtirol announces that it has acquired outright from U.C. Sampdoria the rights to the sports performance of 29-year-old outside midfield defender Antonio Barreca. The player has signed a contract valid until June 30, 2025.
Born in Turin, Italy, on March 18, 1995, 180 cm tall, defender-left-back Antonio Barreca can also be used as an outside midfielder. Good game vision and speed, adept at serving his teammates with crosses from the back. Born in the Piedmontese capital, Sicilian origins, football-wise he grew up in the Granata youth teams. With the Primavera team he won the championship final in 2014, lost on penalties against Chievo Verona. Often among the summonses of the first team with coach Gian Piero Ventura. First season as a professional with Cittadella, in Serie B and first goal among the cadets on November 15, 2014 in the 5-2 loss to Carpi. Closes with 38 appearances.
In June 2015 he moved to Cagliari, relegated to Serie B. With the island’s formation (41 games and 3 assists), led by Rastelli, which won the championship and was promoted to Serie A. Redeemed by Torino in 2016, he made his debut with the granata led by Mihajlovic in the match of the 3rd round of the Coppa Italia won 4-1 against Pro Vercelli at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino and on September 8, 2016, at the age of 21, he made his Serie A debut by entering in Molinaro’s place in the first half of Torino-Empoli (0-0). In granata he played 37 matches in A with 2 assists and 2 in Coppa Italia.
On July 10, 2018, he moved to French side Monaco and made his Ligue 1 debut on August 11, 2018 in the 3-1 away win against Nantes. On November 6, he made his UEFA Champions League debut, playing as a starter in the 0-4 home loss to Club Brugge.
On Jan. 31, 2019, he moved to Newcastle Utd and made his Premier League debut on Feb. 2 in the home loss to Tottenham (1-0), subbing in for Matt Ritchie in the 86th minute in his only token appearance with the Magpies. On July 10, 2019, he moved to Genoa and on October 5, 2020, he landed at Fiorentina. He finishes the season with only 84 minutes played, spread over 3 games.
On August 27, 2021, he moved to Lecce, with whom he won the 2021-2022 Serie B championship (24 games and 4 assists). In the summer of 2022 he returned to Cagliari after six years and won Serie B. In July 2023, he moves to Sampdoria, still in Serie B. On September 25, 2024, he scores the last penalty in the final sequence of the Genoa derby against Genoa in the Coppa Italia, enabling the Blucerchiati to reach the round of 16. 27 matches with Samp with one assist.
He boasts 58 games in A with 3 assists, 11 in Coppa Italia, 126 in B with one goal and 13 assists, as well as experience in Ligue 1, Coupe del France, Trophée des Champions and Championnat National 2 – Groupe A.
After playing with the Under-18 and Under-19 national teams, he made his debut with the Under-20 team on Oct. 9, 2014 in a match valid for the Four Nations Tournament lost 2-1, away, against Poland’s peers. On August 12, 2015, he made his debut with the national Under-21 team, subbing in the second half of the friendly match Hungary-Italy (0-0). On February 18, 2017, he was summoned by CT Ventura for an internship with the senior national team. He was summoned for the 2017 European Under-21 Championship in Poland, in which Italy was eliminated in the semifinals by Spain.”
The article New Serie B adventure for former Barreca, who says goodbye to Sampdoria comes from Calcio Lecce.
