Pablo Daniel "Dani" Osvaldo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdaːni oˈzvaldo]; born 12 January 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born and raised in Argentina, Osvaldo represented the Italy national team internationally.
Osvaldo began his career at Huracán in 2005 and the following year moved to Italy in a co-ownership deal between Serie B clubs Atalanta and Lecce, later playing in the top flight for Fiorentina and Bologna. After a loan to Espanyol, he joined the Spanish club on a permanent basis before earning a return to Italy to Roma for an initial fee of €15 million in 2011. He spent two seasons at the club and was then signed by Southampton, where he spent most of his time out on loan, at Juventus, Internazionale and Boca Juniors, before joining Porto. He returned to Boca in January 2016, but was later sacked by the club in May.
Osvaldo qualified to represent Italy through his ancestry, having played initially for the nation's under-21 team before making his senior debut in 2011.
At times, Osvaldo has been disciplined for having participated in various ferocious incidents with opponents, teammates and managers.
Osvaldo made his debut with Huracán in 2005. After less than a year, he was signed by Italian side Atalanta, playing three matches in the 2005–06 Serie B season. In 2006, Atalanta agreed to a co-ownership deal which sent the player to Lecce, another Serie B team, where Osvaldo had the opportunity to play regularly, scoring eight goals in 31 appearances with the Giallorossi.
Atalanta subsequently regained the full player's property and sold him to Fiorentina for €4.6 million.
On 2 March 2008, Osvaldo headed in a cross from teammate Papa Waigo to give Fiorentina a 3–2 win in stoppage time over fierce rivals Juventus. He was then sent off for his goal celebration with a second yellow card, after having been booked earlier in the match, when he removed his team jersey and pretended to machine gun his own fans in a similar fashion to Fiorentina legend Gabriel Batistuta's goal celebration. His most important goal was a spectacular overhead kick against Torino on 18 May 2008.
Osvaldo left Fiorentina on 20 January 2009 and joined Bologna on loan for €2 million. At the end of season, Bologna bought him for an additional €5 million, signing a four-year contract with the club. On 23 August 2009, Osvaldo scored the season-opening goal for Bologna against his former club Fiorentina and earned his team a point in the draw.
On 10 January 2010, Spanish club Espanyol announced that they had signed the Italo-Argentine forward on loan until June 2010, pending a medical examination. He made his La Liga debut when he came on as a 54th-minute substitute for Iván Alonso in the 0–2 away defeat to Osasuna.
On 3 June 2010, Osvaldo's loan was extended for another season, for €500,000, weeks after the player declared his interest of staying in Spain.
On 31 August, Osvaldo's loan deal with Espanyol was turned into a five-year deal for a fee worth €4.6 million.
On 25 August 2011, Osvaldo was sold to Roma for a fee of €15 million plus bonuses, whereby the bonus for goals (€500,000) and appearances (€250,000 each for 25th and 50th appearances; up to 100th) had been fully and partially activated; Roma also has the obligation to pay an additional €1 million if the team had qualifies for one of the Champions League seasons from 2012–13 to 2016–17, regardless of whether or not Osvaldo was a player of Roma at that time. On 22 September 2011, Osvaldo scored his first goal for the Lupi against Siena in a home game that ended 1–1. On 16 October, Osvaldo opened the scoring against Rome rivals Lazio in the Derby della Capitale. He scored his fifth goal against Novara on 5 November.
On 25 November, Osvaldo was apparently angry with teammate Erik Lamela after not receiving a pass during the 0–2 defeat at Udinese and was fined and suspended by his club for "punching Lamela in the face."
On 19 March 2012, after three months, he scored again in a 1–0 victory over Genoa. He scored in the 2–1 loss against Milan and a week later in a 5–2 victory over Novara. He also scored the opening goal in a 3–1 victory over Udinese.
Osvaldo opened the 2012–13 season with a goal against Catania in a 2–2 draw. On 2 September 2012, he scored his second goal of the season against Internazionale in a match that saw Roma win 3–1 against the Nerazzurri at the San Siro. He scored his third league goal, a penalty, against Juventus in a 4–1 defeat at the Juventus Stadium. He scored a brace in a 4–2 win over Genoa and scored his sixth goal of the season in a 4–1 win against Palermo on 4 November. He also scored a goal against former club Fiorentina for a 4–2 win for Roma.
On 28 April 2013, Osvaldo scored his first hat-trick in Serie A against Siena in a convincing 4–0 home victory. Osvaldo finished the domestic season with a team-leading 16 goals, one over teammate Erik Lamela's 15, as Roma finished in sixth place.
In the club's 2013 Coppa Italia final loss to Lazio (1–0), Osvaldo allegedly shouted at and insulted caretaking manager Aurelio Andreazzoli after the match for only being given 15 minutes of playing time off the substitutes' bench. Osvaldo also refused to attend the Coppa Italia awards ceremony in protest to the manager's decision.
Osvaldo signed for Southampton on 18 August 2013 on a four-year deal for a €15.1 (£12.8) million fee plus bonuses up to €2 million. Upon joining Southampton, Osvaldo was reunited with manager Mauricio Pochettino, who had managed him at Espanyol. He made his debut on 24 August in a 1–1 draw with Sunderland, coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half. His first goal came in a 2–0 win over Crystal Palace in September, his second in early December in a 3–2 home loss to Aston Villa, and the next three days later in a 1–1 draw with Manchester City, when The Guardian's reporter described how he "bewildered Vincent Kompany before scoring with an exquisite lob from the corner of the box".