Roberto Soriano

Roberto Soriano (born 8 February 1991) is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Sampdoria and the Italian national team as a midfielder. He is the younger brother of Elia Soriano.

Club career

Early career

Soriano was born in the German city of Darmstadt to a family from Sperone, Province of Avellino, Italy. He started his career with Bayern Munich after being spotted by their scouts in the 2007 Champions Youth Cup while playing for Die Roten.

Sampdoria

On 2 February 2009 Soriano moved to Italian club Sampdoria for an undisclosed fee. Soriano immediately entered Sampdoria's Primavera, or youth team, for the 2009 Torneo di Viareggio, where the Genoa based club finished as the runner-up. In the 2009–10 season, Sampdoria were eliminated in the semi-finals at the Campionato Nazionale Primavera, in which Soriano played.

Empoli

In June 2010, he was loaned to Serie B side Empoli. Soriano made his club debut on 15 August 2010 in a friendly against Reggiana. Soriano was substituted by Gianluca Musacci during the second half. Empoli went on to win that match 4–1. He made his Serie B debut in Empoli's first Serie B match of the season as a defensive/holding midfielder along with Davide Moro. He was substituted by Mirko Valdifiori in the 66th minute. Empoli drew that game 1–1 against Frosinone. However, Empoli would win the away match 3–2. Soriano started from the bench in the next match, losing his starting spot to Gianluca Musacci. Soriano returned to the starting XI in Empoli's 5th Serie B game of the season, and played as central/defensive midfielder, a position he would be utilized in during the next 2 rounds (442 formation and 4312 formation). On 11 December, he scored his first Serie B goal in the game against Portogruaro.