He began his career in the youth team at Fiorentina, but due to a lack of opportunities at this level he played for Colligiana and Castiglionese before moving to Montevarchi, who were then in the Serie C1. Unable to break into the first team he moved back to Serie D, first with Fortis Juventus, who were managed by Maurizio Sarri. He became one of the manager's favourite players and followed Sarri first to Sansovino where he helped the club to promotion from serie D to Serie C2. He then rejoined Sarri at Sangiovannese where a promotion to Serie C1 followed. Success with both of these clubs saw him move to Pescara then in Serie B where he played well for two seasons. His performances attracted the attention of bigger clubs and he was sold to Reggina, who were then in the top flight of Italian football (Serie A).
