Lapadula has been reborn in Peru with Hector Cuper, goals at a rapid rate and a return to the national team at 36 after relegation to Serie C
The striker, coming off a disastrous season that ended with Spezia’s relegation to Serie C, has returned to Peru where he is being managed by Hector Cuper. Lapadula is scoring freely and has also rediscovered the national team.
Not done yet. Gianluca Lapadula's story rolls on and has even brought him back into the national team.
Following a disastrous Serie B season that ended with Spezia's relegation and an inevitable farewell, the striker chose to move to Peru, where Hector Cuper now coaches him.
Back in the groove in the Peruvian league, Lapadula has rediscovered his scoring touch and that has also earned him a call-up from head coach Mano Menezes.
Already a genuine idol in Peru, the striker won even more affection by choosing to wear the Blanquirroja shirt as early as 2020, giving up the possible chance of a call-up from Italy.
Relegation to Serie C and the final years in Italy
Gianluca Lapadula is coming off a disastrous season that looked set to write the final chapter of his very long career.
He made only 18 Serie B appearances for Spezia. Lapadula scored five goals and provided three assists, not enough to avoid relegation.
Those poor numbers followed the previous seasons at Cagliari, where Lapadula had been the standout figure in 2022/23, scoring as many as 21 goals and playing a decisive part in the Sardinians' promotion to Serie A.
At 36, Lapadula seemed to have started down the road towards the twilight of his career before making the right choice: returning home.
The first time in Peru, 200 career goals
Last summer, Lapadula accepted Universitario's offer and, for the first time in his career, played in Peru, the country he chose to represent.
Fans welcomed the striker like a hero, not least because the Peruvian league is hardly packed with stars. On the bench, Lapadula had Hector Cuper, the Argentine manager with a long career in Europe and a brief, not particularly successful spell in Italy with Inter.
This season, Lapadula hit the ground running, scoring six goals in his first 10 league matches. That return even led Cuper to say: "He reminds me of Crespo at his best; in the penalty area he knows how to be ruthless like very few others."
That may be pushing it a little. Still, Lapadula knows exactly how to do his job. His latest milestone proves it: 200 career goals.
"But it was no longer even a target, after what happened to me in the last three years it had remained only an almost unattainable dream. But I live to score goals and having managed it wearing the U shirt is simply fantastic" Lapadula said.
The return to the national team and the 2020 choice
His outstanding start to the season with Universitario has convinced everyone, including Peru's current head coach, who has called him up after a year and a half.
Now Mano Menezes, the former Brazil manager, wants to take the Blanquirroja back to the World Cup. Given his age, Lapadula is unlikely to be part of that long-term project.
For now, though, his call-up has brought back a bit of enthusiasm around the camp, especially when memories return to the choice the striker made in 2020.
Born in Turin to a Peruvian mother, Lapadula had in fact been called up by Italy, for whom he had also played in a friendly three years earlier.
Nothing followed, so he chose Peru for good. From 2020 to 2025 he scored 9 goals in 42 official appearances. He also became a hugely popular idol there, including on social media.
Lapadula's career
Lapadula spent most of his career in Italy and wore a long list of shirts.
One of them was AC Milan, where he played in the 2017/18 season and scored eight goals in 27 appearances.
AC Milan called him up after his breakthrough season with Pescara in Serie B, when he racked up 27 goals in 41 appearances the previous year.
He then went on to play for Genoa, Lecce and Benevento before moving to Cagliari and finally Spezia.
