Davide Petrucci

Davide Petrucci (born 5 October 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays for Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva as a midfielder. Born in Rome, he played for Roma until 2008, when he joined English side Manchester United. However, he was unable to break into the first team and, after loan spells with Peterborough United, Royal Antwerp and Charlton Athletic, he joined CFR Cluj in September 2014. He is also capped for Italy at under-19 level.

Club Career

A.S. Roma

Born in the San Basilio suburb of Rome, Petrucci began his football career with his local club, Roma, playing in their youth team. During the 2007–08 season, he scored 14 goals in 19 appearances for the Roma youth team, alerting Manchester United to his talents. But the AS Roma offered him a contract worth only around £16,000 per annum, the minimum wage for Italian youth team players, claiming that it would upset the other youth players who had already accepted similar deals if they offered him any more. However, despite the club's claims that he would have been given opportunities in the first team in the 2008–09 season, Petrucci expressed concerns that he had not already been called up. When he asked Roma for some time to consider their offer, the club gave him a three-day deadline. Around this time, Manchester United offered Petrucci a £95,000-a-year contract, which the Italian youngster accepted on 13 June 2008. To comply with FIFA regulations with regard to the international transfer of players under the age of 18, United also offered Petrucci's father, Stefano, a job as well as offering to pay for regular flights back to Italy.

Manchester United

United paid Roma approximately £200,000 in compensation for the transfer, which the Italians were unable to contest as Petrucci was not under contract with them. Italian football regulations state that under-17s may not be signed to professional contracts, meaning that Petrucci would not have been able to sign with Roma until