For footballers, a move is rarely just the line that appears on a transfer ticker. Behind the new shirt and the medical lies the practical upheaval of leaving one city for another at very short notice, often without knowing where the next permanent home will be. Alberto, a Genoa-based removal specialist, has built a business around that unsettory side of the game, spending the summer on Italian motorways as players, families and clubs reshape their plans.
Key takeaways
- Alberto says he completes at least 30 football-related moves a month during the summer window.
- His recent work has included Fabrizio Caligara’s proposed switch from Pescara to Catania, as well as Hernani and Gabriel Strefezza heading towards Palermo.
- He has stored Gaetano Castrovilli’s belongings since late April while the former Cesena player waits to decide his next club.
- Kevin De Bruyne’s gym equipment, including two large treadmills, has remained in Alberto’s storage since a move within Naples last year.
- Silvestre and Castrovilli have each used his services around seven times, while Strefezza has moved with him between Lecce, Como, Athens and Palermo.
The hidden timetable of a football move
Alberto was travelling towards Sicily when he discussed the pace of the latest window. Caligara was due to go from Pescara to Catania, while other recent journeys had taken him to Palermo with the possessions of Hernani and Strefezza. The work is shaped by the same late decisions and compressed deadlines that define the final stretch of the market.
He began in football through a personal connection after Ignazio Antonini joined Genoa. Antonini’s wife had rented a home through one of Alberto’s acquaintances and was passed his contact details. Further calls followed, including one from Mattia Perin and another player who needed to relocate to Benevento within days. Alberto then approached agents directly, while word of mouth did the rest.
His routine now includes monitoring potential deals during the year and making contact when a move appears possible, either with the player or his partner. In many cases, he says, families are already looking for help. The requests cannot always be accommodated: he recently had to turn down Stephan El Shaarawy’s girlfriend because he was working in Greece and she needed the job completed in three days. He did, however, advise her on a fair price to expect elsewhere.
The service can begin before a destination is fixed. Castrovilli’s possessions were collected after the end of April, when he was unattached following his time at Cesena, and remain in storage pending his next decision. Alberto also keeps De Bruyne’s equipment in storage after moving it from one address in Naples to another. The Belgian chose not to take two large treadmills and other training machines with him.
“We do everything, including packing the boxes,” Alberto explained. That matters particularly to players who leave a club before knowing the destination of the next stage of their career. In a profession in which a call one evening can mean reporting in another region the following morning, the removal company becomes part of the wider support network around a transfer.
Four vans, long roads and a service built on trust
Footballers’ homes bring demands beyond those of an ordinary domestic move. Alberto cited designer furniture, lacquered drawers, unusual mirrors and wardrobes filled with clothing worth tens of thousands of euros. A recent relocation from Sassuolo to Pescara required four vans. Players may place more emphasis on reliability than on cost, although he noted that some remain price-conscious after bad experiences earlier in their careers.
His pricing, he says, does not change according to the client’s profession. Yet repeat custom and personal recommendations mean that many clients do not initially ask for an estimate. Rolando Mandragora’s wife, for example, contacted him about moving the family’s possessions from Florence to Turin after receiving the number from Castrovilli’s wife. Alberto has reserved the logistics until a final home is chosen.
The hardest part is often not the lifting but the distance. In one recent week, he covered 9,000 kilometres on the road, on top of loading and unloading. Cars are sometimes included, either transported on a carrier or driven directly. On one assignment, he travelled from Monza to Palermo, completed the home move in Sicily, flew back north, collected the vehicle and drove it south himself.
Some jobs bring unusual cargo. De Bruyne owned three antique amphorae, and their placement in the garden was decided by video call with the player’s architect in Belgium, who directed the team centimetre by centimetre. Years earlier, Alberto dismantled a 10-person Jacuzzi belonging to a Sampdoria player, loaded it onto an open truck and rebuilt the transport around its move to a new city.
Short notice remains standard. Gennaro Tutino called on a Thursday evening about a Naples-to-Genoa move; Alberto was at the player’s building at 6am on Monday, and the household was installed by Tuesday. He describes players’ partners as generally generous and cooperative, often offering breakfast, lunch or tips for the crew. During Riccardo Marchizza’s move from Frosinone to Vicenza, his wife stopped the unloading so she could bring ice cream for everyone.
Players occasionally insist on helping themselves. Lorenzo Pirola impressed Alberto with his willingness to work, while Aleksandar Stankovic was so determined to carry furniture and boxes that he had to be stopped before the start of pre-season. Alberto has also moved Dejan Stankovic and both of his sons, describing the family as exceptional clients.
The relationships can outlast any one contract. Filip Djuricic persuaded him to stay for an evening after a morning journey from Genoa to Athens. Davide Zappacosta invited him to watch Atalanta against Chelsea in the Champions League, while Alberto says Alberto Paleari leaves tickets when he plays in Genoa. Shirts are common gifts, but Alberto values a photograph with a client most. One young foreign player initially declined, misunderstanding the request as something that involved payment; after clarification through his agent, the pair became friends, and Alberto has continued to move him around Europe for years.
