| Filippo Falco | |
| Birth Date: | 11 February 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Pulsano, Italy |
| Height: | 1.71 m |
| Position: | Forward, attacking midfielder |
| Youthyears1: | 2004–2008 |
| Youthclubs1: | Bari |
| Youthyears2: | 2009–2011 |
| Youthclubs2: | Lecce |
| Years1: | 2010–2016 |
| Clubs1: | Lecce |
| Caps1: | 27 |
| Goals1: | 2 |
| Years2: | 2011–2012 |
| Clubs2: | → Pavia (loan) |
| Caps2: | 29 |
| Goals2: | 8 |
| Years3: | 2013–2014 |
| Clubs3: | → Reggina (loan) |
| Caps3: | 3 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2014 |
| Clubs4: | → Juve Stabia (loan) |
| Caps4: | 11 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Years5: | 2014–2015 |
| Clubs5: | → Trapani (loan) |
| Caps5: | 34 |
| Goals5: | 2 |
| Years6: | 2015–2016 |
| Clubs6: | → Bologna (loan) |
| Caps6: | 9 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2016–2018 |
| Clubs7: | Bologna |
| Caps7: | 0 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Years8: | 2016 |
| Clubs8: | → Cesena (loan) |
| Caps8: | 12 |
| Goals8: | 4 |
| Years9: | 2016–2017 |
| Clubs9: | → Benevento (loan) |
| Caps9: | 31 |
| Goals9: | 6 |
| Years10: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs10: | → Perugia (loan) |
| Caps10: | 8 |
| Goals10: | 1 |
| Years11: | 2018 |
| Clubs11: | → Pescara (loan) |
| Caps11: | 8 |
| Goals11: | 0 |
| Years12: | 2018–2021 |
| Clubs12: | Lecce |
| Caps12: | 71 |
| Goals12: | 13 |
| Years13: | 2021–2024 |
| Caps13: | 26 |
| Goals13: | 4 |
| Years14: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs14: | → Cagliari (loan) |
| Caps14: | 14 |
| Goals14: | 0 |
| Years15: | 2024 |
| Clubs15: | CFR Cluj |
| Caps15: | 0 |
| Goals15: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2012 |
| Nationalteam1: | Italy U20 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 24 February 2024 |
Filippo Falco (born 11 February 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward or midfielder.
He is nicknamed the "Messi from Salento".[1] [2] [3]
Born in Pulsano, Apulia, Falco started his career at A.S. Bari. In 2008 Falco was released.[4] Falco then left for another Apulia team Lecce. He was the member of the reserve in 2009–10[5] and 2010–11 season. On 24 November 2010, Falco made his professional debut as a substitute replacing Ignacio Piatti in the 85th minute of a 2–1 away defeat against Udinese in the fourth round of Coppa Italia.[6]
On 11 August 2011, Falco was signed by Serie C side Pavia along with Fabio Romeo on a season-long loan deal.[7] On 4 September, Falco made his debut for Pavia in a 1–1 home draw against Reggiana, he was replaced by Federico Bufalino in the 77th minute.[8] On 11 September he played his first entire match for Pavia and he scored his first professional goal in the 66th minute of a 2–2 away draw against Sorrento.[9] On 20 November he scored his second goal in the 7th minute of a 2–1 home defeat against Benevento.[10] On 11 December, Falco scored his third goal in the 18th minute of a 1–1 away draw against Tritium.[11] The team finished 16th and forced to play in relegation "play-out" against SPAL. Falco started both playoffs matches but did not score. Falco was the joint-topscorer of the team along with Mattia Marchi. Falco ended his loan to Pavia with 31 appearances, including 30 as a starter and 8 goals.[12]
Falco played his first match of the season on 12 August 2012, as a substitute replacing Ledian Memushaj in the 63rd minute of a 3–1 home win over Chieti in the second round of Coppa Italia.[13] On 18 August he played in a 4–2 away defeat against Torino in Coppa Italia, he was replaced by Inàcio Pià in the 68th minute.[14] On 2 September, Falco made his Serie C debut for Lecce in a 3–2 home win over Cremonese, he was replaced by Cosimo Chiricò in the 55th minute.[15] On 30 September, Falco scored his first goal for Lecce in the 47th minute of a 2–0 home win over Tritium.[16] On 14 October he scored his second goal in the 75th minute of a 4–2 home win over Virtus Entella.[17] On 22 December he played his first entire match of the season, a 0–0 home draw against AlbinoLeffe.[18] Lecce finished 2nd in Serie C and the team played in the play-off, but they were defeat by Carpi in the final (2–1 on aggregate). Falco ended his first season to Lecce with 31 appearances, 2 goals and 1 assist.
On 2 September 2013, Falco was loaned to Serie B club Reggina on a season-long loan deal. On 25 October he made his debut in Serie B for Reggina, as a substitute replacing Alessandro Sbaffo in the 57th minute of a 3–2 home defeat against Pescara.[19] On 1 November, Falco played his first match as a starter for Reggina, a 1–0 away defeat against Latina, he was replaced by David Di Michele in the 53rd minute.[20] On 13 December he played his third match for Reggina as a substitute replacing Jacopo Dall'Oglio in the 52nd minute of a 2–0 home defeat against Robur Siena.[21] In January 2014, Falco was re-called to Lecce leaving Reggina with only 3 appearances.
On 20 January 2014, Falco was signed by Serie B side Juve Stabia on a six-month loan deal. On 25 January he made his Serie B debut for Juve Stabia in a 2–1 home win over Pescara, he played the entire match.[22] On 1 February he scored his first goal for Juve Stabia in the 14th minute of a 1–1 away draw against Spezia.[23] Falco ended his six-month loan with 11 appearances, 1 goal and 2 assists.
On 11 July 2014, Falco was signed by Serie B club Trapani on a season-long loan deal. On 17 August he made his debut for Trapani as a substitute replacing Simone Basso in the 63rd minute of a 2–1 home defeat against Cremonese in the second round of Coppa Italia.[24] On 30 August he made his Serie B debut for Trapani as a substitute replacing Simone Basso in the 91st minute of a 0–0 away draw against Pescara.[25] On 7 September, Falco played his first match as a starter for Trapani, a 2–1 home win over Vicenza, he was replaced by Mattia Aramu in the 85th minute.[26] On 23 September he played his first entire match for Trapani, a 2–2 home draw against Virtus Entella.[27] On 20 December he scored his first goal for Trapani in the 17th minute of a 2–1 away defeat against Modena.[28] On 2 April he scored his second goal in the 7th minute of a 3–1 home win over Frosinone.[29] Falco ended his loan to Trapani with 34 appearances, 2 goals and 12 assists.
On 18 August 2015, Falco was signed by Bologna on a temporary deal with an obligation to buy.[30] On 29 August he made his Serie A debut in a 1–0 home defeat against Sassuolo, he played the entire match.[31]
After 9 appearances in Serie A (1 as a starter and 8 as a substitute), on 1 February 2016, Falco was loaned to Serie B club Cesena on a six-month loan deal.[32] On 7 February he made his debut in Serie B as a substitute replacing Camillo Ciano in the 74th minute of a 0–0 away draw against Modena.[33] On 13 February, Falco scored his first goal for Cesena, as a substitute, in the 78th minute of a 2–1 home win over Perugia.[34] On 26 February, Falco played his first match as a starter for Cesena, a 2–0 home win over Cagliari.[35] On 2 May he scored his second goal in the 70th minute of a 2–1 home win over Pro Vercelli.[36] On 7 May he played his first entire match for Cesena, a 1–1 away draw against Ternana.[37] On 20 May he scored twice in a 2–1 away win over Avellino.[38] Falco ended his six-month loan deal to Cesena with 13 appearances, 4 goals and 1 assist.
On 13 July 2016, Falco joined Benevento on a season-long loan deal.[39] On 7 August he made his debut for Benevento as a substitute replacing Amato Ciciretti in the 87th minute of a match loss 4–2 at penalties after a 0–0 home draw against Salernitana.[40] On 27 August, Falco made his Serie B debut for Benevento in a 2–0 home win over SPAL, he was replaced by Ricardo Bagadur in the 83rd minute.[41] On 4 September he played his first entire match for Benevento and he scored his first goal in the 70th minute of a 1–1 away draw against Carpi.[42] On 10 September he scored his second goal in the 38th minute of a 2–0 home win over Hellas Verona.[43] On 19 November he scored his third goal in the 78th minute of a 4–0 home win over Brescia.[44] He helped Benevento to win promotion to Serie A and ended his loan to Benevento with 36 appearances, 6 goals and 6 assists.
On 29 August 2017, Falco was loaned to Serie B side Perugia on a six-month loan deal. On 3 September he made his Serie B debut as a substitute replacing Han Kwang-song in the 65th minute of a 4–2 home win over Pescara.[45] On 8 October, Falco played his first match as a starter for Perugia, a 5–1 home defeat against Pro Vercelli, he was replaced by Giavanni Terrani in the 75th minute.[46] On 30 November he played in the fourth round of Coppa Italia, an 8–3 away defeat against Udinese, he played the entire match.[47] On 4 December he scored his first goal for Perugia, as a substitute, in the 91st minute of a 1–0 home win over Ascoli.[48] Falco ended his loan to Perugia with 9 appearances, 1 goal and 1 assist.
On 19 January, Falco was signed by Serie B club Pescara on a six-month loan. On 24 February, Falco made his Serie B debut for Pescara in a 0–0 home draw against Cremonese, he was replaced by Leonardo Mancuso in the 75th minute.[49] On 3 March he played his first entire match for Pescara, a 2–0 away defeat against Cittadella.[50] Falco ended his loan to Pescara with 8 appearances.
On 4 July 2018, he was signed by his former club Lecce on a permanent basis.[51] His Serie B debut with the giallorossi side came on 27 August, when he scored a goal against his former team Benevento.
On 3 November 2019, he scored his first Serie A goal against Sassuolo at Stadio Via del Mare with a free-kick.
On 29 January 2021, Falco signed with Serbian team Red Star Belgrade.[52]
On 1 September 2022, he signed a contract on loan with Cagliari from Red Star Belgrade for the season 2022-23, with the obligation to redeem from Cagliari bounded with the occurrence of certain conditions.[53]
Falco played his first game for the Italy national under-20 football team on 18 April 2012.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Lecce | 2010–11 | Lega Pro Prima Divisione | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Pavia (loan) | 2011–12 | Lega Pro Prima Divisione | 29 | 8 | 3 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | 34 | 9 | ||
| Lecce | 2012–13 | Lega Pro Prima Divisione | 27 | 2 | 3 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| Reggina (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Juve Stabia (loan) | 2013–14 | Serie B | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | ||||
| Trapani (loan) | 2014–15 | Serie B | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 2 | |||
| Bologna (loan) | 2015–16 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Cesena (loan) | 2015–16 | Serie B | 12 | 4 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4 | |||
| Benevento (loan) | 2016–17 | Serie B | 31 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 36 | 6 | ||
| Perugia (loan) | 2017–18 | Serie B | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | |||
| Pescara (loan) | 2017–18 | Serie B | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Lecce | 2018–19 | Serie B | 31 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 7 | |||
| 2019–20 | Serie A | 30 | 4 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 31 | 5 | ||||
| 2020–21 | Serie A | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 71 | 13 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 75 | 14 | |||||
| Red Star Belgrade | 2020–21 | Serbian SuperLiga | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 10 | 4 | ||
| 2021–22 | Serbian SuperLiga | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 26 | 2 | |||
| Total | 26 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 1 | — | 36 | 6 | ||||
| Cagliari (loan) | 2022–23 | Serie B | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | Liga I | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 283 | 41 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 316 | 46 | |||
Red Star Belgrade