Andrea Natali (born 28 January 2008) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for Eredivisie club AZ, on loan from Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 28 January 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Milan, Italy | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team |
AZ (on loan from Bayer Leverkusen) | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Bologna | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Brera | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Pont Marina - Almogàvers | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Cañada Blanch | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Udinese | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | AC Milan | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Espanyol | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Bayer Leverkusen | ||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | → AZ (loan) | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Bayer Leverkusen | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | → Jong AZ (loan) | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | → AZ (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Italy U15 | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Italy U16 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Italy U17 | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Italy U19 | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Italy U20 | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 28 April 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 18 November 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
Early life
editNatali moved with his family to Spain as a child.[1]
Club career
editHe started playing football at the age of six when he joined the youth academy of Bologna, the club where his father played from 2012 to 2014.[2] In the summer of 2014, he joined Brera and after a few seasons with the Neroverdi, he moved abroad, first to Spain and then to England.[2]
Natali joined the youth academy of La Liga side Barcelona at the age of thirteen,[3] after playing in the youth academy of Udinese[4] and AC Milan's youth academy.[2] He has been described as "one of the most promising defenders in the Blaugrana youth team".[5]
On 26 June 2024, Natali joined Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen.[6]
On 4 September 2025, he moved to the Netherlands and joined Eredivisie club AZ on a one-year loan, initially assigned to the under-21 team.[7]
International career
editStyle of play
editNatali mainly operates as a defender and has been described as "stood out for his driving and quality in passing".[10]
Personal life
editNatali is the son of Italian former footballer Cesare Natali.[11] He has four siblings.[12]
Honours
editItaly U17
References
edit- ↑ "Andrea Natali: un centrale di grande fisico e tecnica per il Barça". tuttomercatoweb.com.
- 1 2 3 "Un Clásico all'italiana, Natali ed Emanuel oltre ogni rivalità: "Siamo diventati amici grazie alla Nazionale"" (in Italian). 29 May 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ↑ "Andrea Natali - un italiano nella cantera blaugrana" (in Italian). 22 January 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ↑ Monica Tosolini (5 June 2024). "Andrea Natali, dalle giovanili dell'Udinese al tetto d'Europa con l'Under17" (in Italian). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ↑ Jordi Carné (14 September 2022). "Andrea Natali, el joven central del Barça que ya lidera la selección italiana" (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ↑ "Bayer 04 sign rising star Natali from Barcelona" (Press release). Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ↑ "Bayer verleiht Top-Talent Natali an AZ Alkmaar" (in German). 4 September 2025. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
- ↑ "Andrea Natali - Bergamo News article". 28 November 2022.
- ↑ "I 20 convocati di Favo per la fase finale. Il 21 maggio l'esordio con la Polonia". FIGC (in Italian). 16 May 2024.
- ↑ "Andrea Natali - Sport.es article". 12 December 2023.
- ↑ "Figlio d'arte coi piedi da Barça: Andrea Natali". gazzetta.it. 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "Natali: dal Milan al Barcellona, un italiano nella Masìa". calciomercato.com. 29 April 2023.
- ↑ "UEFA Under-17 EURO final report: Italy 3-0 Portugal". UEFA. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.