Claudio Marchisio is a midfielder who plays for Italian side Juventus and the Italian national team. Marchisio joined the Juventus youth academy as a seven year old. He made his first team debut in August 2006, at the age of 20. The following season he was sent on loan to Empoli, with fellow Juve team mates Giovinco and Volpato. At Empoli he gained more experience in Serie A and also played in the UEFA Cup. When Empoli at the end of the season were relegated Marchisio returned to Juventus. Soon after his return he managed to secure his place in Juventus’ starting XI. The following season Marchisio also played his way into the Italian national team.

Latest update: September 26 2011

Theo Walcott’s injury, suffered in Arsenal’s 3-0 win against Bolton on Saturday, is not as bad as first believed. The sharp pain he felt behind his knee was first feared to be a hamstring injury. Arsenal have now confirmed Walcott should be available already this week, with the important features of Olympiakos in the Champions League and the North London derby at Tottenham Hotspur.

Theo Walcott is a right winger who plays for English side Arsenal and England. Walcott came up through the youth squad at Southampton with the likes of players like Gareth Bale. In 2005 he made his debut for Southampton’s first team aged 16 years and 143 days, which is a club record for Southampton. At the end of they year he was named amongst the top three finalists for the prestigious BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

Walcott transferred to Arsenal on 20 January 2006, for a fee of £5 million, rising to £12 million depending on appearances for club and country. On 19 August 2006 he made his Premier League debut, making his mark with an assist. Walcott had been playing for England at U16, U17 and U19 levels and a shock selection saw him included in the senior squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He became England’s youngest ever player when he made his debut in May 2006 in a friendly match against Hungary. Walcott was 17 years and 75 days. At the end of the year he won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the year award. In September 2008 Walcott scored a hattrick for England when they beat Croatia 4-1 in a qualifyer for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. England qualified for the 2010 World Cup but Walcott was not selected, which England coach Fabio Capello later has expressed regrets over.

Michael Dawson is a central defender who plays for Tottenham and the English national side. Dawson came through the youth squad and into the senior team at Nottingham Forest. He signed for Tottenham on January 31st 2005 and made his Spurs debut in a 2-2 draw at Liverpool on April 16th.
At Tottenham Dawson quickly formed a good partnership with fellow centre half and captain Ledley King. Because of King’s many injury problems Dawson has become the one to rely on in defense and eventually also as captain. Dawson had an exceptional 2009/10 campaign where Spurs qualified for Champions League and Dawson named the club’s Player of the Year.
England manager Fabio Capello picked Dawson as the only uncapped player to be part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He made his international debut in a friendly against Hungary in August 2010. On September 3rd he started in the Europ 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria but sustained a knee injury early in the second half. That injury kept him out for three months and led to a brief crisis in the Spurs defense. At the time they also had long-term injured Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King out, in addition to some injury struggles for their other centre back covers in Younes Kaboul and William Gallas. In February and March 2011 Dawson won his third and fourth England cap against Denmark and Wales.

Felipe Melo is a defensive midfielder who plays for Italian side Juventus and Brazil.
Melo started his career at Flamengo and had several successful seasons for various Brazilian club sides. He then moved first to Mallorca then to Racing Santander in Spain, where things were off to a slow start. Eventually he found some form again and stayed two seasons with Racing. This was followed by an impressive season with Almunia before deciding on a move to the Italian Serie A. He played the 2008/09 season for Fiorentina, again impressing with his robust playing style. This resulted in Melo being called up to the Brazilian squad and several clubs being interested in his signature. In July 2009 he signed for Juventus. The 2009/10 season was at times disappointing for Melo but he kept his plaze in the Brazilian team going to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In their quarterfinal loss to Netherlands Melo started with an assist for the goal putting Brazil ahead. He then touched the ball which gave Netherlands the equalizer, initially being accredited as an own goal. Bad went from worse when Melo was sent off from having stamped Arjan Robben. Melo was subsequently blamed by many supporters for Brazil’s World Cup exit.
The new Brazilian head coach has so far preferred Chelsea’s Ramires and Tottenham’s Sandro at the central defensive midfield position.

Giorgio Chiellini is a centre back who plays for Italian side Juventus and Italy.
Chiellini was born in Pisa but came up through the youth squad at AS Livorno (arch-rivals of AC Pisa). He signed for Juventus just days before his 20th birthday in 2004, in a contracted co-ownership with Fiorentina. He played an excellent 2004-05 season for Fiorentina and also made his full debut for the Italian national team. That summer he had been in the Italian bronze medal winning team in the Olympics and the year previously he was in the winning team of the U-19 European Championship. Chiellini has since been a regular in the Italian squad and he enjoyed an excellent Euro 2008 tournament.
Since the 2005-06 season Chiellini has played for Juventus where they in the 2008-09 season were runners-up in Serie A. He was named Serie A Defender of the Year in 2008, 2009 and 2010.