Sebastiano Esposito

Sebastiano Esposito
Esposito playing for Inter Milan in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth (2002-07-02) 2 July 2002
Place of birth Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Cagliari
(on loan from Inter Milan)
Number 94
Youth career
2006–2011 Club Napoli
2011–2014 Brescia
2014–2019 Inter Milan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Inter Milan 7 (1)
2020–2021 → SPAL (loan) 10 (1)
2021 → Venezia (loan) 18 (2)
2021–2022 → Basel (loan) 23 (6)
2022–2023 → Anderlecht (loan) 14 (1)
2023 → Bari (loan) 11 (4)
2023–2024 → Sampdoria (loan) 22 (6)
2024–2025 → Empoli (loan) 33 (8)
2025– → Cagliari (loan) 0 (0)
International career‡
2017–2018 Italy U16 12 (8)
2018–2019 Italy U17 20 (14)
2019 Italy U18 2 (1)
2019 Italy U19 3 (2)
2022 Italy U20 2 (0)
2020–2025 Italy U21 13 (1)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
Runner-up 2019 Ireland
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:44, 30 May 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 24 March 2025

Sebastiano Esposito (Italian pronunciation: [eˈspɔːzito]; born 2 July 2002) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Cagliari, on loan from Inter Milan.

Club career

Inter Milan

Esposito made his professional debut for Inter Milan at 16 years old, on 14 March 2019, in the second leg of Europa League match against Eintracht Frankfurt, coming in as a substitute for Borja Valero in the 73rd minute. He became the youngest player ever to feature in a European competition match for the club.

The following season, on 23 October 2019 he made his debut in Champions League, replacing Romelu Lukaku in the group stage match against Borussia Dortmund, and becoming the first player born in 2002 and the second youngest ever for the club to feature in a Champions League/European Cup match, after Giuseppe Bergomi.[1][2][3] On 26 October, he made his Serie A debut, aged 17, coming as a substitute for Lautaro Martínez in a home match against Parma in San Siro. On 21 December 2019, Esposito scored his first goal for Inter, on his full debut, from a penalty in a 4–0 win at home against Genoa.[4] On 15 June 2020, he was nominated for the Golden Boy award.[5]

2020–21 season: Loans to SPAL and Venezia

On 25 September 2020, he joined SPAL on loan.[6] On 15 January 2021, Esposito joined Venezia on loan.[7]

2021–22 season: Loan to Basel

On 13 July 2021, he was loaned to Swiss club Basel, with an option to buy.[8] Basel confirmed the loan deal on the same day and Esposito joined Basel's first team for their 2021–22 season under head coach Patrick Rahmen.[9] After playing in one test game, Esposito played his debut for his new club in the second qualifying round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, a home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 22 July 2021, as Basel won 3–0 against Partizani Tirana.[10] Three days later, on 25 July, Esposito made his Swiss Super League debut for Basel against Grasshoppers and scored his first goal for the club in the same game as they recorded 2–0 victory.[11]

At the end of the season, Basel decided not to pull the purchase option. During his time with the club, Esposito played a total of 39 games for Basel, scoring a total of nine goals. 23 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, one in the Swiss Cup, ten in the UEFA Europa Conference League and five were friendly games. He scored six goals in the domestic league, one in the Conference League and the other two were scored during the test games.[12]

2022–23 season: Loans to Anderlecht and Bari

On 4 July 2022, Esposito joined Belgian club Anderlecht on loan.[13] On 31 January 2023, Esposito moved on a new loan to Bari in Serie B.[14]

Loans to Sampdoria and Empoli

On 22 August 2023, Esposito joined Serie B club Sampdoria on loan.[15]

On 17 July 2024, Esposito joined Serie A side Empoli on loan.[16] Despite the club's relegation to Serie B, he recorded a personal best by scoring 8 goals during the season.[17]

Return to Inter

Following his loan spell, he returned to his parent club, Inter Milan, to take part in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.[18] He started for Inter in their first match in the competition against Monterrey.[19]

Cagliari

On 12 August 2025, Esposito joined fellow Serie A side Cagliari on a season-long loan with an obligation to make the trasfer permanent.[20]

International career

He took part in the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, reaching the final of the tournament.

He made his debut with the Italy U21 on 3 September 2020, in a friendly match won 2–1 against Slovenia.

Personal life

He is the younger brother of midfielder Salvatore Esposito,[21] and the older brother of striker Francesco Pio Esposito.[22]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 June 2025[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Inter Milan 2018–19 Serie A 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 — 1 0
2019–20 7 1 2 0 5[b] 0 — 14 1
2024–25 — — — 4[c] 0 4 0
Total 7 1 2 0 6 0 4 0 19 1
SPAL (loan) 2020–21 Serie B 10 1 3 0 — — 13 1
Venezia (loan) 2020–21 Serie B 19 2 0 0 — — 19 2
Basel (loan) 2021–22 Swiss Super League 23 6 1 0 10[d] 1 — 34 7
Anderlecht (loan) 2022–23 Belgian Pro League 14 1 0 0 7[d] 1 — 21 2
Bari (loan) 2022–23 Serie B 11 4 — — 4[e] 0 15 4
Sampdoria (loan) 2023–24 Serie B 22 6 — — 1[e] 0 23 6
Empoli (loan) 2024–25 Serie A 33 8 2 2 — — 35 10
Career total 137 29 8 2 23 2 9 0 179 33
  1. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
  4. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  5. ^ a b Appearance(s) in Serie B promotion play-offs

Honours

Inter Milan

Italy U17

Individual

References

  1. ^ @David_Heras (15 March 2019). "Sebastino Esposito debutó con el Inter ante el Eintracht en Europa League con tan solo 16 años. Es el primer jugador nacido en 2002 en jugar en una competición europea" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Rotondaro, Vittorio (30 May 2019). "Who is Sebastiano Esposito? Inter's record-breaking teen striker sensation". Goal.com. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Esposito: "A fantastic feeling, but I'm especially happy with the win"". inter.it. 23 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Esposito's unforgettable evening: his first goal and a hug from his mother". Inter Milan. 21 December 2019.
  5. ^ Whelan, Padraig (15 June 2020). "The 2020 Golden Boy nominees have been revealed 👶". OneFootball.
  6. ^ "SEBASTIANO ESPOSITO È BIANCAZZURRO" (Press release) (in Italian). SPAL. 25 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Football Italia". app.football-italia.net. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  8. ^ "SEBASTIANO ESPOSITO JOINS BASEL". Inter Milan. 13 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Sebastiano Esposito leihweise zum FCB". Sebastiano Esposito on loan to FCB (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  10. ^ "3:0 gegen Partizani – klarer Sieg zum Saisonauftakt". 3:0 against Partizani – clear victory to start the season (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  11. ^ "2:0-Sieg bei GC zum Auftakt in die Meisterschaft". 2-0 win at GC to start the championship. FC Basel 1893 AG. 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  12. ^ Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (2022). "Sebastiano Esposito - FCB statistic". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Sebastiano Esposito joins Anderlecht" (Press release). Inter Milan. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Benvenuto Sebastiano Esposito !" (in Italian). S.S.C. Bari. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Sebastiano Esposito moves to Sampdoria" (Press release). Inter Milan. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Sebastiano Esposito è un nuovo calciatore azzurro" (in Italian). OneFootball. 17 July 2024.
  17. ^ Vrakela, Marko (28 May 2025). "Inter Milan Academy Graduate In Contention For FIFA Club World Cup Squad After Empoli Relegated". Sempre Inter.
  18. ^ D'Amato, Claudio (8 June 2025). "I volti nuovi dell'Inter al Mondiale per Club: convocati anche i fratelli Esposito, Valentin Carboni e Palacios" (in Italian). Goal.com.
  19. ^ "Official Starting Lineups – Monrerrey Vs Inter Milan FIFA Club World Cup Opener: Sebastiano Esposito Starts". OneFootball. 18 June 2025.
  20. ^ "Sebastiano Esposito joins Cagliari" (Press release). Inter Milan. 12 August 2025. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
  21. ^ "I fratelli Esposito, alle radici del talento: "Dal Club Napoli alla Champions League"" (in Italian). GianlucaDiMarzio.com. 8 November 2019. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Tre finali tutte perse: che domenica da incubo per i fratelli Esposito" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 12 June 2023.
  23. ^ Sebastiano Esposito at Soccerway. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  24. ^ "2019 Under-17 EURO team of the tournament". UEFA. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
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