Daniele Dessena is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A

Serie A

Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

 club Sampdoria

U.C. Sampdoria

Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

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Club career

A central midfielder, who can also play on the right wing, and a product of Parma

Parma F.C.

Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

 youth system, Dessena has a growing reputation within Serie A. Known for his deft touch and range of passing from the centre of the park. He scored Parma's first goal in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, against FC Rubin Kazan

FC Rubin Kazan

FC Rubin Kazan is a Russian association football club based in the city of Kazan . Rubin won the Russian Premier League championship in 2008 and 2009.-History:...

, and continued to play well in the domestic league.

In the Summer of 2007 he signed a contract with Parma

Parma F.C.

Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

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Following the relegation of Parma

Parma F.C.

Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

  to the Serie B

Serie B

Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

 in summer 2008, Dessena joined Sampdoria

U.C. Sampdoria

Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

 in a co-ownership

Co-ownership (football)

Co-ownership is a system whereby two football clubs own the contract of a player jointly, although the player is only registered to play for one club...

 deal. After struggling to gain a regular place in the starting line-up for Sampdoria

U.C. Sampdoria

Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria...

 he signed on loan for Cagliari

Cagliari Calcio

Cagliari Calcio is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. The club was formed in 1920 and currently plays in Italian Serie A, having spent a large part of recent years mainly in Serie A and Serie B....

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International career

From 2006 to 2009, he was a member of the Italy U-21

Italy national under-21 football team

The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years...

, with the coach Pierluigi Casiraghi. He played for Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

. In May 2009, he was called-up to the European Championships

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006-07 competition, which allowed the change to...

 and only made substitute appearances as second choice behind Luca Cigarini

Luca Cigarini

Luca Cigarini is an Italian football midfielder who currently plays for Atalanta B.C. in Serie A.-Club career:He was one of the notable youth products in 2005 Parma squad, alongside Daniele Dessena...

 and Claudio Marchisio

Claudio Marchisio

Claudio Marchisio is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. A product of the Juventus youth system, he has spent his whole career thus far at his hometown club, with the exception of a season-long loan spell at Empoli...

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