 At 17 he was part of Bologna's first team but only made the bench in Serie A and Coppa Italia.In 2002, he was transferred to Chievo Verona and after that to Florentia Viola.His stay in Florence was not what he had dreamed of and when rumours spread in late 2003 that Fiorentina wanted to trade him for the Swedish international Kim Källström of Djurgårdens IF (one of former club Hammarby's biggest rivals) he was outraged and declared that it was a transfer he would never accept.