Simone Pepe

Simone Pepe (Italian pronunciation: [siˈmone ˈpepe]; born 30 August 1983) is an Italian footballer who plays for A.C. Chievo Verona as a winger, on either side of the pitch.

After starting out at Roma he went on to compete in Serie A for ten seasons, spending most of his time at Udinese and Juventus and amassing totals of 219 games and 29 goals. He also had his later career hindered by several injuries.

Pepe appeared for Italy at the 2010 World Cup.

Club career

Early years / Palermo

Pepe was born in Albano Laziale, a comune not far from Rome. He started his career at A.S. Roma but never represented the team officially, being loaned to amateurs Calcio Lecco 1912 and Teramo Calcio for the duration of his contract.

In summer 2003, Serie B side U.S. Città di Palermo signed Pepe in a co-ownership deal, for a nominal fee of just €1,000, and he scored one goal in 19 appearances to help his team gain promotion to Serie A for the first time ever, as champions.

Pepe was loaned to Piacenza Calcio also in the second level in July 2004, in order to gain experience. On 31 August, Roma sold the rest of his registration rights to Palermo, for an undisclosed amount. It was reported that Roma chairman Franco Sensi owed his Palermo counterpart Maurizio Zamparini money, and both Pepe and Cesare Bovo were sold to Palermo at an un-economic price to settle the debt, but Roma denied this, stating the transfers were totally transparent.