Leeds United in the EFL: How is Mirco Antenucci getting on these days? | OneFootball

With Leeds Unted‘s most recent spell in the Football League much longer than many probably expected, there are plenty of players who only ever played for the club, outside of the Premier League.

One such player who fits into that category, is Mirco Antenucci, who joined Leeds from second-tier side Ternana in his native Italy, when the Whites were still a Championship side back in the summer of 2014.

Having completed his move to Elland Road, the striker spent the next two seasons in Yorkshire, as Leeds recorded 15th and 13th placed finishes in the second-tier of English football.

During that time, Antenucci managed 19 goals in 80 appearances in all competitions for Leeds, before he departed the club on a free transfer in the summer of 2016.

That saw him return to Italy with SPAL, where he would make an immediate impact, scoring 20 goals in 39 games during his first season with the club, to help them win promotion to the Italian top-flight.

Antenucci then scored a further 16 goals in 70 more games for SPAL over the next two seasons, as they secured 17th and 13th place finishes in Serie A.

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Lewis Baker has played for both clubs.

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The summer of 2019 then saw the striker drop down the Italian football pyramid, as he completed a move to Bari, who had just won promotion to the third-tier in Italy.

Since then, Antenucci has emerged as a key figure for his new club, even though he is approaching the veteran stage of his career.

After missed out on promotion via the play-offs in his first to seasons with the club, they would seal promotion as league champions during the 2021/22 campaign, with Antenucci having scored 52 league goals in 103 league games during his first three years with the club.

That form has continued into the current campaign, with the now 38-year-old netting three goals in six league matches at the start of this season, to help to fourth in the second-tier standings.

As a result, you wonder whether Antenucci may well be eyeing up one last shot at top-flight football, and although he would need a new contract to do that – his current deal expires next summer – his form for Bari so far suggests there is little reason for them to be ready to let him go anytime soon.