Antonio Candreva (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔːnjo kanˈdrɛːva]; born 28 February 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a right midfielder or right winger.
Candreva began his professional club career with Ternana in 2004, where he remained until 2007. He later moved to Udinese, remaining until 2012, but was sent on loan to Livorno, Juventus, Parma, and Cesena during his time with the club. He subsequently transferred to Lazio, where he won the Coppa Italia in his first season with the team. He joined Inter Milan in 2016, and made over 150 appearances across four seasons at the club.
At international level, Candreva represented Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (winning a bronze medal), 2014 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2016.
Candreva was born on 28 February 1987 in Rome. Candreva is of part Arbëreshe descent as his grandfather, on his father's side, is from the Arbëreshë village of Falconara Albanese in Cosenza.
Candreva started playing for the youth teams at local club Lodigiani, then transferred to Serie C1 team Ternana in 2003 and played several games for the first team when they were promoted to Serie B for the 2004–05 season. After Ternana were relegated back to Serie C1 the following season, he became a regular in the side and attracted the interest of several Serie A clubs.
In June 2007, Candreva was then signed by Serie A club Udinese and played for their Primavera (U-20) team as an overage player. He made his Serie A debut on 27 January 2008 against Inter, and managed several appearances for the first team throughout the season.
The 21-year-old was successively loaned out to Serie B outfit Livorno for the 2008–09 season. Together with Alessandro Diamanti, he helped the Tuscan side regain promotion to Serie A as playoff winners. After a successful first season, the loan deal between Udinese and Livorno was subsequently extended to one more year, thus giving Candreva the opportunity to play a full season as a regular in the Italian top flight.
On 20 January 2010, it was confirmed Serie A giants Juventus had signed Candreva on loan for the rest of the season, for €500,000, with Juventus having an option to buy half of his contract from Udinese at the end of the season. He scored his first Serie A goal, the winner against Bologna, less than ten minutes after coming on as a substitute for Diego. A few days later, he made his debut in European competitions in the Europa League, in the second leg of the club's round of 32 fixture against Ajax, when he came on as a late substitute for captain Alessandro Del Piero.
After the end of the 2009–10 season, Juventus opted not to exercise their right to sign the player permanently and Candreva returned to Udinese in the summer.
On 31 August 2010, Candreva signed for Serie A side Parma on a one-year loan deal, for €500,000. Parma had the option to purchase Candreva in a co-ownership deal, but declined to do so.
On 21 July 2011, Candreva signed for Serie A side Cesena on an initial one-year loan deal. It cost Cesena €300,000.
On the last day of the January 2012 transfer window, he moved to Lazio on a free loan deal, in return Simone Del Nero from Lazio went for a free loan to Cesena. On 7 April 2012, Candreva scored his first goal for Lazio against Napoli in the 2011–12 season, in a 3–1 home victory.
On 18 July 2012, the temporary deal was renewed for free with an option to buy.
With the hiring of Lazio's new coach Vladimir Petković in the 2012–13 season, Candreva finally won over fans and coaching staff, continuously being one of Lazio's best performers. On 2 September 2012, Candreva scored his first goal of the 2012–2013 season in a 3–0 victory against Palermo, following Miroslav Klose's 2 goals.
On 26 May 2013, he won the first trophy of his career, the 2012–13 Coppa Italia title, following a 1–0 victory in a historic derby match against cross-city rivals Roma. Candreva assisted Senad Lulić's match-winning goal in the 71st minute of the 2013 Coppa Italia Final.
In June 2013, Lazio exercised the option to buy Candreva in a co-ownership deal for €1.7 million on a 4-year contract. In October 2013, Candreva added one more year to his current contract. On 14 June 2014 Lazio bought Candreva outright for another €4 million, so in total Lazio paid Udinese €5.7 million.
On 3 August 2016, Candreva joined Inter Milan on a four-year deal for a €22 million fee plus reported bonuses. On 13 August, Candreva made his unofficial debut for the club in an International Champions Cup preseason match against Celtic; he came on the pitch in the 60th minute, and scored his first goal with the club ten minutes later in a 2–0 win. On 20 October, he scored his first Europa League goal with the club, the only goal of the match, for a 1–0 home win over Southampton. He scored his first league goal with the club on 20 November, in a 2–2 draw with Milan rivals.
Candreva made his 100th Serie A appearance for Inter on 29 October 2019 in the 2–1 away win over Brescia in 2019–20 Serie A.